Reply, the electric car is a great opportunity

The date has been set: from 2035, cars with combustion engines will no longer be sold in Europe. “An epochal transformation, which generates great opportunities for new entrants and great risks for those who are unable to transform their business model”, he says Philip RizzanteChief Technology Officer of Reply, a consulting firm specialized in the digital field and new technologies.

Is Europe in the conditions, at an industrial and infrastructure level, to achieve the 2035 objective?
“Today around 20% of cars sold are electric, but they represent less than 1% of the fleet in circulation. We are certainly still a long way from reaching our goals, but the road is paved from a regulatory point of view and the commercial opportunities are so interesting that both the industrial sector of the car and that of energy services are investing to allow the development of technologies and services.Some EU countries show a higher level of maturity than others and certainly the incentive policies and the availability of charging are drivers of the speed of diffusion.As Reply, we have created a solution that lists all charging stations in Europe and provides EV drivers, operators and urban planning authorities with complete visibility of information on charging options available”.

Will electrification change the attitude of citizens towards personal mobility?
“I don’t think that electrification in the private transport sector brings with it a different attitude of people towards the purchase and use of individual means of transport. It will certainly change, as it is already changing, the sensitivity of each of us to respect the ‘environment”.

A new economy is born around the electric car. Which of the traditional auto, energy and digital companies is best positioned to capture this added value?
“The energy market is going through an epochal transformation, strongly supported by technological evolution and digitalisation. As has happened in the past with other markets, this generates great opportunities for new entrants and great risks for operators who are unable to transform the its operating model. integrated digital services for the automatic management of production, storage and conscious and optimized use of energy. In this scenario, digital skills are essential. Reply today supports companies throughout the supply chain on a global level with projects that concern both the new application architectures to support the development of the infrastructure and recharging processes, as well as the creation of innovative systems that enable new models of energy flexibility”.