On the outskirts of Aosta, where the Alps open up to the great corridors to France and Switzerland, a small silent revolution has been born.
In Brissogne, along the A5 Quincinetto-Aosta, Italy’s first motorway station entirely dedicated to electric vehicles has been inaugurated: an area of 5,500 square metres, 27 stalls and 7 charging stations—including 6 ultra-fast 350 kW—capable of regenerating batteries in minutes.
The project, the result of a collaboration between ASTM Group (the world’s second-largest operator of motorway concession networks) and IONITY (the European joint venture founded by BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen), is designed as a model of sustainable mobility along one of the busiest routes in the Northwest.
“The location is strategic,” explains Gianni Silvestrini, scientific director of the Kyoto Club. “Important flows of tourists from France and Switzerland pass in front of Aosta, many of whom already travel in electric cars. In the coming years their numbers will increase, and we must be ready to offer adequate services.”
The importance of networks
Silvestrini emphasises how this first station is “an important piece in a journey that must take electric charging out of cities, along major European corridors.” He adds, “With an increasing number of electric four-wheelers, motorists need to be able to count on a reliable infrastructure even whilst travelling. It is a sign that Italy is finally understanding that the mobility of the future is built on networks, not just on car models.”
About 66,000 charging points are active in the country today, a figure that places us “amongst the most advanced in Europe, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain,” the expert explains. “In recent years, the offer has grown, cars have increasingly large autonomies—from 300 to 600 kilometres—and ultra-fast columns like those in Aosta help overcome the so-called ‘recharging anxiety.’ It is a transition that is now irreversible.”
The new Aosta Valley station, which is also accessible to people with disabilities and is directly connected to the refreshment area on the northern carriageway, was created on an area once occupied by a disused motorway barrier. Today it is a concrete symbol of the ecological reconversion of infrastructure. “A step in the right direction,” comments Silvestrini, “but Italy remains behind other European countries. We are still paying for the delay with which the national automotive industry has believed in electric. Now we need to catch up.”
A synergy that has been missing
For the expert, the key to acceleration is in collaboration: “The ASTM-IONITY model is successful because it unites network operators with vehicle manufacturers. It is a synergy that has been missing and can really make a difference. Until a few years ago there were no charging points on the motorway; today we count thousands. It is proof that when the public and private sectors move together, change comes.”
But the electric revolution, Silvestrini warns, “cannot stop at the single car.” An integrated vision of mobility is needed, where “public transport, rail, shared and soft mobility dialogue with each other. Cities must rethink their travel patterns: fewer private cars, more public transport, more trams and light infrastructure.”
Cultural resistance
The Kyoto Club director also points the finger at cultural resistance: “In Italy, the electric car has been seen for too long as a luxury, or worse as a fad. But today the data speak for themselves: electric cars emit less than half the CO₂ of a petrol car over their entire life cycle, and cheaper models will soon arrive, thanks in part to competition from China. Electric will take over; it’s just a matter of time and bold policies.”
In Brissogne, where the noise of engines used to mark departures, now the discreet rustle of electric charging reigns. A change of sound. And of paradigm. “The world is moving towards renewables and the electric car,” Silvestrini concludes. “It may slow down or accelerate, but the direction is marked. The challenge is to work out who will be able to lead it, and who will stand back and watch.”
