Most studies of electric vehicles underline their ecological benefits and zero emissions, at least where they are used, with huge immediate advantages for improving the quality of life in cities.

City centres are the perfect place for the circulation of electric vehicles, especially if of small dimensions, used also for last-mile logistics and for waste collection.

Higher quality of life: zero emissions and silence in residential centres

It should be emphasized that a completely electric vehicle (BEV) does not emit exhaust gas where it runs, and is also quite silent, and therefore very suitable for the city, without causing heavy environmental impact, caused by noise, which is responsible for serious pathologies.

Electric lorries and trucks are considered the future for the collection of waste and for last-mile commercial deliveries, which often occur at night, when most people are sleeping and need as much quiet as possible.

Indirect emissions of electric vehicles linked to the production of energy

We have already referred to how renewable energy sources, also in Italy, increasingly  contribute to meeting energy demand, also with new technologies, and therefore not only hydroelectric energy, which has always been a very important source in Italy. The storage of energy with batteries makes it possible to balance peak production periods of renewable and sustainable energy sources with falls in production, as they are often directly dependent upon climatic conditions. Photovoltaic and wind energy will increasingly accompany the development of electric mobility, which will then really become zero-emission. With regards to photovoltaic energy, it’s possible, already today, to talk of 0 km home production and consumption, given that a system on a roof of the garage or in the driveway or in the place of work can recharge electric cars.

Reduction of indirect emissions thanks to the efficiency of electric vehicles

When electric car batteries recharge, they contribute, albeit indirectly, to emissions of CO₂ and other polluting and harmful gases emitted by thermoelectric power stations which use fossil fuels for the production of electricity.

The production of thermoelectric energy in Italy accounts for around 53% of the total and derives mainly from the efficient combustion of natural gas in modern and flexible power plants. The electrical energy is then transported by the efficient distribution network to the BEV charger, with an efficiency estimated to be around 95%. Electrification benefits from an important factor: in the electric vehicle every unit of energy, every Watt received from the charging infrastructure is used in an extremely efficient way:

• The battery charging system has an efficiency estimated at around 95%.
• Once charged, it is estimated that the batteries are able to use around 95% of the energy received for charging.
• The conversion and control system, the so-called DC/AC form of direct electric current coming from the battery, transformed into alternating current, useful for application in electric traction motors, has an efficiency estimated at around 95%.
• Electric motors, finally, transform 95% of the absorbed electrical energy into mechanical energy applied to the wheels for vehicle traction.

It’s possible to estimate that a BEV converts as much as around 82% of electrical energy received from the electrical power supply into mechanical energy for traction. This is the so-called “tank to wheel” analysis.

It is estimated that internal combustion engines, such as diesel, petrol and LPG, with a comparative “tank to wheel”, calculation methodology, have losses, especially thermal, of around 70%. Only 30% of the energy present and available in the fuel, therefore, is effectively used for the traction of the endothermic vehicle.

It can readily be affirmed that an electric vehicle uses the energy it receives much better for moving, polluting, therefore, much less compared to traditional vehicles running on an ICE engine, even if the energy source of the BEV is only thermoelectric, that is, from gas.

Now, we’ll turn to the distribution of fuels and electricity; admitting that the same fuel is used for generating electricity or for powering an internal combustion engine, the loss for the transport transformation and distribution of electricity is, nevertheless, estimated to be only 5%. If, on the other hand, we consider transporting the same amount of fuel to the petrol station, there are estimated losses of 66%, and therefore the efficiency of the same fuel is only 44%, which then falls further to a miserable 13% of useful energy to the wheel starting from the same source. These are the so-called “Well-to-Wheels” analyses, from the deposit to the wheel, highlighting why electric mobility is to be considered as ecological, favourable for the environment also due to the much more efficient use of the energy available, even if the energy is entirely produced from fossil fuels.

It should be said very clearly that electric vehicles require energy and raw materials for the production of the batteries which can, in any case, already today be disassembled and reused in less demanding applications than for BEVs.

New opportunities for the automotive components industry

The thermal management, heating and air-conditioning of the vehicle interior but also of the batteries, which must always operate between 20°C and 50°C, can strongly influence the autonomy of BEVs and on the general efficiency of the vehicle system. Given that autonomy is a central aspect for autonomous electric vehicles and could be considered a weakness, the average consumer, used to endothermic engines, expects an autonomy of hundreds of kilometres of any BEV on the market.

The first new heat pumps have appeared for the Thermal Management of electric vehicles (* see the Glossary below), a technology intended for the automotive sector, precisely to avoid dissipating precious electrical energy, applied only for the heating of the batteries and the people transported. In inefficient vehicles with ICE endothermic motors, thermal energy is abundant and is around 70% wasted; it’s therefore easy to heat the interior with the cooling liquid of the diesel or petrol motor. This innovative technology will also create important opportunities for specialised companies that decide to produce new dedicated components for so-called HVAC systems for thermal management.

Conclusions

The development and production of new, modern components for BEVs, dedicated above all to thermal management, today represents a great opportunity for growth and a challenge for the entire automotive components supply chain.

Supplier companies of automobile parts have benefitted over the years from the low efficiency of ICE engines and the easy supply of fuel, remaining blocked at traditional solutions, without real innovations, lacking motivation for technological development. 

Now is the moment for a recovery in research and development, also through external consultant laboratories, in automotive companies specialised in the production of a series of technical solutions for automotive applications.

GLOSSARY

BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle, a fully electric battery powered vehicle.

ICE – Internal Combustion Engine

DC – Direct Current, continuous current, also coming from a battery;

AC – Alternating Current, alternate current, coming from an alternator;

Thermal Management – the complex system for the management of air-conditioning, cooling, both of batteries but also of the vehicle interior. Efficient heat pumps are often used in the new BEV vehicles.

HVAC – Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning. (*) Heat Pump – also called thermo pump, is a thermal device for vehicles able to extract and transfer thermal energy using the compression of a gas. In the field of air-conditioning or the Thermal Management of modern vehicles, the term Heat Pump specifically refers to an innovative air-conditioner with a reversible valve, which changes the direction of the flow of cooling fluid and thus makes it possible to add or remove heat to/from the interior or the series of batteries, depending on the temperature required by the system. The function of the Heat Pumps on BEVs is independent from the movement of the vehicle, so can be easily used when the vehicle is parked, for pre-heating or cooling, also from remote, with a smartphone, but especially for the automatic air-conditioning of the (especially rapid) series of batteries for recharging, which need a very precise temperature range, between 20°C and 50°C. There are already BEVs that if set up with in recharge mode, prepare the temperature of the batteries in advance, making the recharge more efficient and rapid.

The International Energy Agency, IEA, has warned that the transition towards clean energy is still too slow to meet the need to limit catastrophic climate changes.

There’s the risk of high volatility in the prices of fuels and consequently of electricity provoked by the lack of investments in renewable energy sources.

The uncertainty of government commitments to invest in renewable energy is creating the conditions for an extremely volatile period regarding the prices of fuels and of consequent inflation, with an increase in the prices of all assets that require petroleum and its derivatives and gas, for production and transport.

Despite the progress made, current government commitments on policies to reduce climate change are 20% below the level necessary for achieving zero emissions in 2050.

The goal should be that current technologies, supported by adequate political choices, fill the gap by 2030. 

It should be underlined that it is estimated that over 40% of actions that reduce climate change are also economically advantageous and therefore represent a genuine economic investment.

The IEA expects at least the following three things from COP26, the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, organized by Italy and the United Kingdom:

1. the number of countries making a commitment for the climate to increase, because the 20% objective has become much higher and has to be achieved in a shorter period;

2. given that it is estimated that 90% if the future growth of CO₂ emissions will be attributed to emerging countries, during COP26 it will be vital to seek agreements to finance the necessary investments to support renewable energy precisely in these countries which it is feared will be leaders in the growth of emissions;

3. the political leaders of the large economies, the EU, the USA, China and India, must commit to a clear communication: “if they continue to spend resources in the old sectors of “dirty”, non-renewable energy, they risk heavy financial losses, provoked by uncertainty”.

Nel World Energy Outlook has underlined the need for more investments in clean renewable energy. The current strong turbulence in the financial markets is for the most part generated by a strong post-pandemic recovery which is not clearly sustainable, that is, without adequate investments in renewable energy. It appears, moreover, that there are not sufficient actions to support renewable energy sources.

Reinova has predicted these problems for some time and works daily to transform them into opportunities. The company can boast a centre of excellence, unique in Italy, in the research and development of innovative technologies aimed at the electrification of mobility and energy efficiency and sustainability, to limit pollution and climate change.

The pandemic crisis is really bringing out the problems in the global supply chain, unimaginable up to a few months ago. The so-called “Chip shortage” has literally brought large car makers to their knees, stopping assembly lines, most of all for the lack of electronic components and batteries coming from the Far East. Stellantis and Volkswagen have even had to suspend production in a number of factories.

The concentration of supplies of strategic components, which in the event of interruption can cause very costly line stoppages, in the hands of few and distant consumer electronics giants, can no longer be tolerated by the European and North American markets, especially in the automotive sector.

A coordinated Community development plan in the European Union is essential for the future competitiveness of the entire supply chain, but all individual companies will have to draw up new internal strategic plans that provide for equivalent and replaceable supplies for all vehicle parts and industrial products in order to avoid supply problems that could cause losses of business opportunities, customers and turnover.

The loss of the sale of durable goods is seen strategically as a dangerous threat because it opens up potential purchase alternatives: if a customer needs a certain car which has an excessive delivery time, they will often be forced to turn to competing brands, that is, the second or third choice, opening up unexpected competition scenarios with the loss of brand loyalty in which investments have been made for years in order to consolidate the commercial partnership with customers.

In Europe alone, the damage is considerable: the Chip shortage has caused a reduction in the production of a million vehicles in 2021 compared to 2020.  

The automotive sector is particularly under pressure because, on account of the volumes purchased and the quality of the chip, its demand is considered as low, of secondary importance, by the large chip producers.  With respect to the global shortage of microprocessors which also hits electronics, information technology, telephony, computers, videogame consoles and robotics, the automotive industry arrives last for the giant chip producers. In the priority of deliveries, therefore, the microprocessor producers give precedence to high-value supplies, such as those for the telephone industry, given that they are continuously researching expensive, increasingly miniaturised chips with advanced functions for smartphones, as opposed to those used on automobiles, which are simpler and low cost.

CONCLUSIONS

The Chip shortage is a crisis which will protract over time and the industry, therefore, must make appropriate strategic choices, with more suppliers able to respond with different and alternative solutions, for example, the traditional analogic instrumentation reused by certain car makers instead of the current digital dashboards.

A company’s R&D capacity to react to market demand with a short time-to-market, and the speed and effectiveness of the validation of new automotive components, will be fundamental for the future to guarantee the availability of alternative components for existing customers, but also to favour the commercial penetration of new markets.

The European Union must do its part, setting up appropriate policies for the chip sector, incentivising the reshoring of production, which will allow Europe to have its own internal production at least within 5 years. Unfortunately, the extremely complicated electronics industry requires very long set-up times for production plants and is characterized by uncertain profitability, at least in the early years, and is also conditioned by the minimum production thresholds. Europe must become more autonomous and less dependent on distant productions, focused on other customers and markets. The EU must take responsibility to rebalance the global competitive scenario, as a new sectorial operator with respect to the current giants: the United States, China and Asia in general, and Taiwan first and foremost.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in order to achieve the challenging targets for reducing climate-altering CO₂ emissions, eliminating the impact by 2030, it will be necessary for 60% of car sales to be completely electric (BEV): this will imply a significant change in the market forecasts made until now and, therefore, a considerable increase in the demand for batteries but also of components (electric or not) dedicated to the architecture of the entire vehicle.

Until now the real productive capacity of the so-called giga-factory has never reached the expected levels, for various reasons. It is feared, therefore, that the proposed 80 battery-producing factories in Europe will not reach the expected production in 2036.

The European electric and electrified vehicles market has experienced surprising growth rates so far, also due to a very uncertain traditional market: many buyers are shifting to the acquisition of electrified vehicles that will increasingly benefit from exemptions from city access limits and blockages of traffic, especially during periods of high pollution.

The risk that the supply of batteries becomes, in the next few years, a bottleneck in the production of electric and electrified vehicles is real, but the entire industry supply and sub-supply chain of new complementary components needs to adapt in time, with the development of advanced 48V, 400V and 800V solutions, just to give some examples. With the increase in new market opportunities, it will be necessary to develop advanced technologies rapidly, also with reference to validation and introduction onto the market. 

New solutions will also be necessary for improving the performances and the autonomy of electric vehicles, not only directly with electric components dedicated to traction and the batteries, but also with regards to parallel developments of components to make the vehicles ever lighter, and therefore more efficient and high-performing.  

It’s important to take into consideration a sector underpinning the further development of the electric and plug-in vehicles market: equipment and components for charging infrastructures. All the parties dedicated to the refuelling of stationary vehicles traditionally belonged to the Oil & Gas sector, that is, with little complementarity with the automotive sector. Today the recharging infrastructure sub-sector, extremely important for electric mobility, forms increasingly part of the expanded automotive sector: the number of charging stations will have to grow exponentially, because they will have to be present in almost every garage or car park, also private; their intrinsic technology will, however, also have to grow hand in hand, with new battery technologies making them faster, more intelligent and adapted to the evolved demand. The possibility of recharging services sold together with the vehicle, adding further value and possible business to the vehicle sales sector, also appears to be a very interesting prospect. A sector that will need to adapt, with considerable development opportunities, is that of design studios specialised in service and recharging stations, which will have to create appropriate lay-outs to further improve the efficiency and management of spaces, also possibly incorporating photovoltaic energy roofs.   

GLOSSARY

BEV – a completely battery-operated electric vehicle (BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle).

INTRODUCTION

From 2021 all Euro 5 and Euro 6 automobiles with endothermic engines (diesel, petrol, LPG and methane etc.) currently on sale in European Union countries will have sophisticated filtering systems and technologies aimed at eliminating the most harmful polluting compounds contained in the exhaust gases. The series of modern anti-pollution devices with which endothermic engines are fitted, plus the ever-stricter EU regulations on limiting harmful and climate-altering emissions, together with a new collective environmental awareness are, in any case, leading the automobile market towards complete decarbonization (in the medium-term, expected to be between 5 and 10 years). The current tendency is clearly towards zero-emission, completely electric BEV-type vehicles.

Means of transport in general cannot be considered as the only source of air pollution. Nevertheless, particularly in residential centres with a lot of traffic and congestion, the obsolescence of the vehicles, especially diesel, of pre-Euro 4 standard registered up to 2010, produce considerable emissions, especially the dangerous PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles.

Especially in the city, the concentration of old-generation vehicles on the road and the quantity of people that live and work there, means that, today, there is great concern about public health and therefore attention is increasingly being focused on the use of electric, zero-emission vehicles, whether private cars or public transport to avoid the emission of polluting and climate-altering gas emissions, but also irritating noise pollution that affects people’s quality of life.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF AIR POLLUTION

In a single year there are 52,300 premature deaths in Italy associated with exposure to fine particles (PM 2.5). There’s a war going on! The European Environmental Agency’s figures are clear: many Italian cities are still suffering from harmful pollution, which shortens life expectancy, provoking premature death and very serious diseases. The two Italian cities at the top of the table for premature deaths linked to pollution are Brescia and Bergamo, but also Vicenza, Saronno and Verona are among the first eleven in the whole of Europe.

As further examples, let’s take the two cities closest to home: Modena and Reggio Emilia. The scenario is worrying: deaths per year number respectively 139 and 115, numbers that could be avoided if the PM 2.5 levels respected the air health limits.

The Italian cities where nitrogen dioxide and relative NOx pollution is most present are Turin (the absolute third in Europe, with 34 deaths per year) and the Milan metropolitan area, which grieves as many as 103 deaths per year. Modena is at 79th place, Reggio Emilia at 77th (there don’t seem to be direct deaths recorded caused by excesses of NO₂ gas; nevertheless, there are around 110 people in Modena and 77 people in Reggio Emilia who would not be dead, every year, if the level of NO₂ was the same as the least polluted European city, Reykjavik, in Iceland!).

Origin of the particles

The origin of PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles can be natural: the particles expelled during volcanic eruptions, the products of burning wood during fires, and vegetable pollens dispersed in the air during spring, for example. The natural causes are not, however, cause for concern: concern for people’s health relates to the particles provoked by the use of fossil fuels for automotive transport and heating. Electrification will, therefore, be increasingly necessary for mobility and for the air-conditioning of city buildings, together with improvements in energy efficiency, in order to reduce polluting gas emissions to a maximum and also, to a certain extent, also climate-altering emissions.

Health hazard of particle pollution

The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) has put all substances constituting atmospheric pollutants in Group 1 of its classification together with the worst carcinogenic agents in circulation. The fine PM 2.5 particle, in particular, is dangerous because it penetrates the human organism through the respiratory system: the smaller the dimension of the particle, the easier is access into the organism, arriving at the bronchi and alveoli with regards to the finest particle, smaller, therefore, than 2.5 µm. The impact of the particles on human health is seen in a greater occurrence of tumours, especially those of the lungs, but also of the colon and the intestine.

Health hazard of nitrogen dioxide, NO₂

Nitrogen dioxide, NO₂, is a typical air pollutant, originating principally from road traffic. Diesel and LPG engines emit more NO₂ than petrol engines. NO₂ has a pungent small and can cause eye, nose or throat irritation and therefore also coughing. Harmful alterations of the respiratory functions can occur in sensitive people, such as children, asthmatics or people suffering from chronic bronchitis. In Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel engines there’s a considerable reduction in NO₂ thanks to technological exhaust gas treatment devices, such as EGR, Exhaust Gas Recirculation, but the total elimination of pollutants is still today very difficult and problematic!

CONCLUSIONS

All vehicles with diesel engines, due to the limits linked to their nature in relation to  practical, dynamic driving contexts, especially urban ones, characterised by sudden and variable accelerations, have high NO₂ emissions, albeit limited by technical gas treatment devices.

Other types of ICE engines, such as petrol engines, have high CO₂ emissions deriving from inefficiency in the combustion cycle. Furthermore, noise emissions, harmful to the health, especially in cities, are not to be ignored.

Emissions of PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles have been significantly limited with the Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards, by anti-particle filters (FAP), which filter the particle pollutant when the car moves around in the city, and eliminates it, at high temperatures, at higher speeds.

Electric vehicles, therefore, besides the journey comfort and the absence of noise emissions, are to be considered, thanks to the zero emission of gases, as the future of future city mobility, but it is hoped that they can also be the solution for public transport and last mile logistics.

GLOSSARY

BEV – a completely battery-operated electric vehicle (BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle).

PM 2.5 – the acronym that means Particulate Matter ≤ 2.5 µm, is the particulate matter dispersed in the air, the series of solid and liquid atmospheric particles suspended in the air. The term PM2.5 identifies the particles of an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 µm, a fraction of the aerodynamic dimensions of the PM10 and contained in it.

PM 10 – the acronym that means Particulate Matter ≤ 10 µm, is the particulate matter dispersed in the air, the series of solid and liquid atmospheric particles suspended in the air. The term PM 10 identifies the particles of an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 µm.

NOx – identifies generically the nitrogen oxides NO, NO₂, NO₃, … which are emitted as sub-products during combustion.

ICE – Internal Combustion Engine.

Climate-altering gases – gases that cause the greenhouse gas effect, that is, climate warming and alteration.

For more than 125 years, Italy has stood out for the production of sustainable electricity from renewable sources. Italy has always been considered one of the world’s leaders in the production of hydroelectric power, an important renewable energy source (RES). Italy’s first large hydropower plant was activated in 1895 in Paderno (Lecco), on the Adda river. The geothermal power plant in Larderello (Pisa) has been in operation since 1911, and is renowned worldwide for its know-how and technological excellence. In addition to the above, there are also plants fuelled by New Renewable Energy Sources such as photovoltaic, wind, biomass (waste). The main contribution comes from solar energy, produced with photovoltaic systems connected to the grid or isolated. In 2017, they produced 7.3% of the national demand, a figure that is rapidly growing compared to previous years, considering that until 2010, this value was only around 0.5%.

How much renewable energy is produced in Italy?
The percentage of electricity demand met by renewable sources in Italy stands at around 35%. The European average is 34.2%.
Italy remains below the European average in RES used for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning of buildings, which makes it fall behind in the ranking of total electricity consumption. The percentage of electricity produced from renewable sources is improving, also due to the fact that it is easy to increase and expand photovoltaic energy in Italy. Photovoltaic systems are an easy future solution for increasing zero-emission electricity production. The development of production from renewable sources is also a goal that does not depend on the import of polluting fossil fuels and electricity itself. The electricity requirement of 12.8% of total consumption in Italy is met by purchasing electricity from abroad, transported through the use of power lines and distributed in Italy through local transport and distribution networks. However, at certain times, Italy sells and exports electricity to countries interconnected to the grid, thanks mainly to efficient, flexible, modern, thermoelectric turbogas power plants, which can promptly intervene during peaks in demand.

The PNRR (Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan) and renewable energies
Mission 2 of the PNRR states: “the increase in the share of energy produced from renewable energy sources (#RES) in the system, in line with the European and national targets of #decarbonisation”, “Strengthening and digital transformation of grid infrastructures to accommodate the increase in production from RES …”. The #PNRR identifies electric mobility as a “lever to improve the overall quality of life (reduction of air and noise pollution …)”. The National Plan also foresees and estimates a new annual production of 2,500 GWh from photovoltaic systems, which will contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year. It should also be considered that an electric vehicle recharged by solar panels is a zero-emission and zero-kilometre solution, hence highly efficient, defined as “from the source to the wheel”. The PNRR’s objective is to support the implementation of off-shore renewable energy sources, wind power (already developed in various Northern European countries), but also more experimental technologies, such as generators that exploit wave motion. The PNRR also takes into account the importance of the adoption of electric mobility for improving the quality of life in our densely inhabited cities, which are increasingly growing and will absolutely need to reduce and eliminate harmful emissions from the exhaust fumes of internal combustion engines, while considerably limiting vehicle noise.

The PNRR and storage systems for electricity from renewable and sustainable sources
Storage systems, together with so-called “smart grids”, are becoming increasingly relevant and functioning solutions for making the production and use of electricity produced from renewable sources more efficient and therefore strategic for Italy. The new smart grids will be able to store, for example, photovoltaic electricity during sunny days, of higher production, and then feed it back into the same electricity grid during days of higher demand, especially when the international grid would require more production, i.e. the intervention of traditional, non-renewable power plants.

Energy use in an electric car
An electric car uses energy much more efficiently than any vehicle with an internal combustion engine, a conventional engine, or even a hydrogen engine. An electric car, even if recharged by energy produced thermoelectrically (i.e. with a generator that consumes natural gas) undoubtedly produces electricity much more efficiently than a similar car with an internal combustion engine and fuelled by the same natural gas, making it significantly cheaper to run and less polluting. This is due to its technical characteristics, including electric distribution chain.

GLOSSARY
RES – Renewable Energy Sources
PNRR – Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan
NRES – New Renewable Energy Sources, photovoltaic, wind, biomass (waste)

On Saturday, 10 July 2021, the new centre of excellence dedicated to the development and validation of electric and hybrid powertrain components for sustainable mobility will officially open its doors and became operational.

10 July 1856 was a special day. It was the day when one of the greatest minds of all time was born, namely Nikola Tesla. A pioneer of the Second Industrial Revolution, his numerous patents and theories influenced and revolutionised electromagnetism, laying the foundations for all future developments.

On 10 July 2021, 165 years later, Reinova will immerse itself in the spirit of the famous scientist, building its pillars by imagining and creating a world based on technological innovation that will make life easier, more sustainable and more social for everyone. The new centre of excellence dedicated to the development and validation of electric and hybrid powertrain components for sustainable mobility has officially been put into production, throwing itself into the midst of the most difficult and uncertain revolution, that of the mobility of the future.

The start of the production activities announced for 10 July of this year was the result of incredible commitment and hard work, as pointed out by Giuseppe Corcione, CEO of Reinova: “Given the particular historical moment and the pandemic that hit us, being able to meet the goal of opening the factory by this date was extremely challenging. This was attributed to a variety of factors, many of which were beyond our control, such as the lack of materials or delays in shipments. The entire Reinova team and all our suppliers  gave 110% throughout the whole process, and I would like to publicly thank them again. The Reinova headquarters will expand the “Electric Valley” (as it has already been rebaptised). In fact, we are convinced that the new mobility revolution lies in electrification, and at Reinova we want to lead it with innovative ideas, creativity and efficiency. Being pioneers in the application of a technology and making it usable and sustainable is a challenging and difficult path, but it is our goal and we want to achieve it with determination.”

A new 100% electrically-driven centre was born in the heart of the Italian automotive industry and marks the dawn of a new sustainable era, entirely made in Italy!

Dell’Orto S.p.A., an Italian multinational company specialising in the construction of injection systems, electronic control units, and mechatronic components for cars and motorcycles, and Energica, an international leader in the sector of high-performing electric motorcycles made in Italy, have partnered with Reinova for the development and validation of hybrid and electric powertrain components for the future of sustainable mobility.

Motor Valley (Emilia Romagna, Italy), June, 8th 2021 – In recent years, the automotive sector has seen a great revolution in sustainable mobility and more and more companies are showing interest in collaborating to develop a virtuous ecosystem, with the aim of co-actively building a more sustainable future.

E-Power is a project designed to create an innovative electric propulsion system for sustainable urban mobility. Launched in July 2019 by Dell’Orto S.p.A. and Energica Motor Company S.p.A., the project now reaches a new important milestone.

After almost 2 years of partnership, which saw the conception and development of the basis of the modular powertrain, the two companies have teamed up with Reinova for another important collaboration. The aim is to continue and to strengthen the modular approach of E-Power by further expanding its range and improving the technical and development support to OEMs.

The Reinova project is an innovative hub for sustainable mobility conceived by REI Lab s.r.l., Unindustria RE and Fondazione REI. It is an ideal partner who shares common values with Dell’Orto S.p.A. and Energica: the pride of being Italian companies, advanced technological know-how, an open mind focused on innovation and continuous improvement and a strong desire to support the transition to a more virtuous and eco-friendly mobility.

The collaboration between the three companies aims at boosting the promotion and marketing of powertrain systems for urban mobility and the large-scale distribution of electrification applications up to 20kW.

This ambitious project, which combines Reinova’s technical capacity in electric Powertrain systems with Energica’s professionalism and unique know-how in electric motors and Dell’Orto S.p.A.’s design skills in vehicle control systems, marks the beginning of a unique mix of services for all OEMs committed to electrification. With Dell’Orto S.p.A.-Energica-Reinova, they will find a unique support from concept to design, to validation, calibration and mass production.

“The collaboration with Reinova marks a significant step in Dell’Orto S.p.A.’s strategy to act as a technological partner in the development of innovative modular electric traction systems for both urban and industrial mobility. This partnership will allow us to create great value for our customers who will be supported by tremendous expertise resulting from years of experience that Dell’Orto S.p.A., Energica and Reinova will share,” says Davide Dell’Orto, CTO of Dell’Orto S.p.A.

Livia Cevolini, CEO of Energica Motor Company S.p.A., declares: “Strategy and vision are what our companies have in common. We have chosen Dell’Orto S.p.A. and Reinova as our strategic partners to give life to a collaboration aimed at the growth of the electrical world. This is a great opportunity to work as a team bringing into play our mutual expertise to create a new excellence”.

Giuseppe Corcione, CEO of Reinova, commented on the new partnership: “With this partnership we are working on a large integrated circular economy project that aims to create a modular platform for the new Italian mobility, one that is sustainable, connected and shared. Our goal is to guide and support companies in their electrification projects by creating economies of scale, sharing experiences and expertise, and promoting Made in Italy innovation”.