Piaggio's hybrid/electric range includes the Piaggio Mp3 Hybrid scooter (top), the Porter Electric Power commercial vehicle and the Ape Calessino Electric Lithium three-wheeled vehicle (bottom).

Enel and the Piaggio Group, represented respectively by CEO and General Manager Fulvio Conti and Chairman and CEO Roberto Colaninno, today signed an agreement to develop zero and low environmental impact mobility systems, with the aim of: analyzing the specific mobility and electric recharging needs of corporate fleet customers to provide innovative products and services; testing the interaction between Enel's recharging infrastructure and Piaggio's electric vehicles; and studying the relationship between hybrid scooters and the recharging infrastructure.

Specifically, Piaggio will provide know-how, information and technical data on electric and hybrid engines, their performance and use and recharging requirements. The group will also make available the results of its research into managing zero and low environmental impact vehicles and supply the experimental projects with its hybrid/electric vehicles, namely the Piaggio Mp3 Hybrid scooter, the Porter Electric Power commercial vehicle and the Ape Calessino Electric Lithium three-wheeled vehicle.

Enel will contribute its innovative electric recharging infrastructure, assessing the results of the feasibility study to ensure compatibility with the technical characteristics and layout of the Piaggio Group vehicles. It will also share its knowledge in corporate fleet management with its partner in order to help identify the specific needs of electric vehicles. The partnership also provides for the selection of cities or usage circumstances marked by different mobility styles and needs in which to carry out the joint pilot projects.

The two partners have been working in the sustainable mobility field for some time. The Piaggio Group – one of the world's premier manufacturers of two-wheeled motorised vehicles and the absolute leader in zero/low environmental impact solutions in this segment – develops, manufactures and sells zero/low-environmental impact vehicles in Europe and international markets. The Group is gradually expanding its range of hybrid and electric vehicles, which supplement its offering of low emissions, high mileage two-wheeled and commercial internal-combustion vehicles.

Enel – with its strong commitment to protecting the environment and reducing polluting, climate-changing emissions – is active in this field through its "Enel Electric Mobility Project", within which it is developing a “smart” electric vehicle recharging system and conducting pilot initiatives for the supply of energy and innovative services. Both groups believe that the expansion of the hybrid and electric vehicle market represents a strategic opportunity, which aims to reduce emissions and achieve environmentally compatible industrial development.

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that gives us the opportunity to develop our system for recharging fleets of electric vehicles”, stated Fulvio Conti, CEO and General Manager of Enel. “The partnership established today between these two major Italian companies will allow us to thoroughly study the needs of this type of mobility compared with those of the individual driver, for which we are already working on building an innovative “smart” recharging system, which represents the backbone infrastructure for the spread of electric vehicles across the country. I am sure that the agreement with the Piaggio Group, which has considerable experience in the field, will give a further boost to the expansion of electric mobility, something we firmly believe in."

Roberto Colaninno, President and CEO of the Piaggio Group, remarked: “Our range of environmentally friendly vehicles, especially the Mp3 Hybrid scooter, the Porter Elettrico and the Ape Elettrico, is the result of an extraordinary technological development effort and substantial investments. It is also an innovative response to what the market is now demanding with increasing insistence: the reduction of polluting emissions and fuel consumption. The development of these technologies applied to sustainable urban mobility will generate new products and applications in the coming years. The partnership with Enel is an essential part of this because it meets the need to provide individual and corporate customers with infrastructure that can be integrated with the innovative features of our new vehicles."