The full agenda — with receipts

This is the sector's annual reality check for Italy: how much PNRR-funded capacity is actually energized and used, and whether public network growth is translating into utilization and sustainable tariffs. The panel mixes a CPO, a research body, a trade association, a consumer observatory and a grid-side research institute, so expect the tension between build-out speed, pricing transparency and private (home and workplace) charging. Anyone planning capex or pricing in Italy should treat it as the baseline for 2025-26 assumptions.

As the installed base ages and expands into private, corporate and CPO sites, verification of charging stations (ESVE) is where compliance and liability land. The useful questions: which checks are mandatory and which are only good practice, which defects recur in the field, and how much verification adds to the cost and timeline of a deployment. Relevant for CPOs, installers and facility owners who carry the risk after commissioning.

AFIR turns ISO 15118 communication (including the -20 version, which enables bidirectional charging) from a differentiator into a compliance requirement, and CEI 0-21 Annex X adds an Italian layer on charging-infrastructure control. The questions that matter are the real deadlines per product category, the cost of retrofitting versus replacing installed hardware, and where certification and interoperability testing will bottleneck. Hardware makers and CPOs with procurement cycles running into 2027 should pay attention.

This is upstream of charging: whether Italy can build a domestic base of equipment for battery design, production and testing, which underpins storage that increasingly sits next to charging hubs. Since it aims at a shared position paper, the questions are what gaps the participants identify and what they ask of policymakers. Mainly relevant to those weighing storage-integrated charging and supply-chain localization.

Flexibility from smart charging only pays if someone can monetize it, and the CIR (CEI 0-21 Annex X / CEI PAS 57-127) defines the technical interface. The open question is how value is split among CPOs, aggregators, energy service companies, utilities and end users, and whether consumer representatives get a real say. If you're building smart-charging or V1G/V2G business models in Italy, this table is where the rules of the game may be shaped.

Testing and validation capacity is a competitive lever for the European automotive supply chain, and it feeds directly into charging performance, battery behavior and interoperability. Look for what measurement and validation gaps the speakers identify and how European R&D can shorten development cycles against non-EU competitors. Of most value to component suppliers and test-infrastructure providers.

Fast charging is limited as much by battery thermal management as by charger power, so immersion cooling is a direct bet on sustaining high charge rates without degrading cells. The session should answer what charging-speed, safety and durability gains are demonstrated versus simulated, and what the cost, weight and serviceability trade-offs are. Charging professionals should care because vehicle-side thermal limits set the real utilization curve at high-power sites.

No description is provided, so the content is unknown beyond the Fraunhofer Institut name and the demonstration format. Worth checking what is actually shown, whether it relates to testing, measurement or charging systems, and whether it is a working setup or a concept. Go if hands-on validation technology matters to your work.

Heavy-duty charging is the next hard problem: megawatt-scale loads, long dwell and route constraints, and grid connections that can take years. With RSE on stage, expect a focus on siting criteria, power sizing, grid access and technology choices (including coach and truck depot versus en-route charging). Anyone looking at truck and bus charging sites should come away with a framework for where, how big and when to build.