At 12.00 sharp on 22 October 2025, the long-awaited click day for the electric car bonus began, the state contribution designed for those who want to say goodbye to their old petrol or diesel car and switch to a zero-emission vehicle. The Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) opened the platform managed by Sogei, accessible via SPID or Electronic Identity Card (CIE), but the start – as expected – was not the smoothest.
Up for grabs are bonuses of up to 11,000 euros for citizens and up to 20,000 euros for micro-businesses, intended for those who scrap a combustion vehicle worth up to Euro 5 and buy a new electric car. The measure, financed with European resources from the Pnrr, is designed to accelerate the transition towards sustainable mobility, reducing the environmental impact in the most congested urban centres.
But, as often happens in Italy when it comes to “click day”, the platform held up for a few minutes. Then the crash.
How the 2025 electric car bonus works and who can really get it
To access the contribution you must authenticate on the official MASE portal and follow the instructions provided in the dedicated video tutorials: one for citizens and one for micro-enterprises.
The path is simple only on paper.
After logging in, you must:
- Select the type of incentive (natural person or micro-enterprise).
- Fill in the required fields, including the license plate of the vehicle to be scrapped (registered for at least six months).
- Confirm and generate the digital voucher, to be spent within 30 days at an authorized dealership.
For citizens, the bonus varies based on the ISEE:
Micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees and a turnover of less than 2 million euros) can receive up to 20,000 euros, but in compliance with the “de minimis” limits that can be checked on the National Register of State Aid (Rna), accessible directly from the portal.
The only major limitation: only those who live or have their registered office in one of the 83 Municipalities of the Functional Urban Areas (FUA), the areas most affected by traffic and pollution, can participate. In short, an incentive for those who live where the air really needs to be cleaner.
Platform in haywire: click day Italy strikes again
It was enough to predict it: at 12.03, the Sogei platform literally exploded under the weight of requests. Virtual queues, loading errors, vouchers that are not generated and SPID sessions that expire halfway through the procedure. The site is in haywire and, for thousands of users, click day has become a digital marathon made up of compulsive updates and blank pages.
The Ministry has already confirmed that the block is due to the enormous number of simultaneous accesses, and that the data remains safe. The system, they assure, will be back operational in the next few hours. Nothing new under the sun. Already in recent years, with ecobonuses and building incentives, the scene was the same: limited funds, blocked site, frustrated citizens.
What can you do if the portal is not responding
Here is some useful (and concrete) advice for those who are still trying their luck:
Ecological transition with F5 shots
The paradox has served its purpose: while Italy is pushing for sustainable mobility, the digital bureaucracy is still stumbling over itself.
The 2025 electric car bonus is a fair and necessary measure, but its management – based on the principle of “who clicks first wins” – risks rewarding those with more stable connections, not those who are more in need.
The available funds should cover approximately 39,000 electric vehicles. But judging by today’s numbers, they are likely to sell out in a few hours, leaving out a good chunk of applicants. For many, this green transition risks turning into yet another episode of transition with obstacles.
A precious opportunity, but one to be managed better
However, MASE invites citizens not to be discouraged and to try again in the next few hours. The objective remains ambitious: to modernize the Italian car fleet and reduce emissions in urban centres. The initiative is an integral part of the Pnrr and joins the program for the creation of electric charging infrastructures throughout Italy.
But to really achieve this, we will need a digital system that is up to par. Because a bonus isn’t enough to change course, if the first obstacle is… a page that doesn’t load.
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