Many studies have focused on the advantages of electrification in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of vehicles, therefore on the advantages of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) compared to conventional internal combustion engine (ICEVs) or hybrid electric vehicle ones (HEVs). However, is the world already prepared for this revolution? This Paper seeks to evaluate the actual advantage of adopting a phase out in the production of HEV and ICEV cars by 2035 for Italy. To this aim, a comparison of the most upto-date "cradle-to-grave" LCA analyses applied to ICEVs, HEVs, BEVs, performed with similar methodologies and including only climate change impact, was carried out in order to establish a mean specific CO2 emission value for battery production. This carbon intensity was compared to the actual specific CO2 emission of the energy used in the whole manufacturing process and for base materials production/refining. The data obtained was then applied to the Italian context considering both the current (2020) specific energy carbon intensity and some others forecasted for 2035, the latter calculated on the basis of the road map envisaged for Italy to meet the "Fit for 55 package" goals. Subsequently, this value was applied to the most representative BEVs and HEVs categories (A-, B-, C-, M-segments) in order to assess, for each model, its carbon debt against a conventional ICEV. At the same time, data on end-use energy consumption were collected and specific CO2 emissions (g/km) were calculated for the same vehicles. In this way it was possible to correlate for each electrified vehicle the carbon debt related to battery production with the use-phase CO2 emission savings, hence to achieve a Break-Even Point in respect to global carbon emissions. This analysis was performed by considering both current data, predicted values regarding future energy carbon intensity/battery capacity, the thermal-based powertrains evolution and the adoption of fuels with very low carbon content (e-fuels and biofuels). The results have outlined some advantages related to BEVs; nevertheless, their actual weight on the global CO2 emissions reduction would remain rather small by 2035, especially if considering the possible adoption of Low Carbon Fuels in ICEVs and HEVs. Therefore, policymakers should carefully move towards a too rapid electrification roadmap, which could seriously damage the significance of the car industry within the Italian production landscape and require major infrastructure investments without yielding substantial results in terms of CO2 reduction.

In the following Paper, the behaviour of an innovative exhaust after-treatment system, suitable for internal combustion engines (ICE) powerplants working at stoichiometric conditions, is discussed in respect to its resistance to oil and ash contamination. This system is based on an unconventional double-stage system made up of a first oxidative filter followed by a three-way catalyst, which has been constructed, developed and tested at STEMS-CNR (the Italian National Research Council). The prototype has shown very interesting performances in terms of overall reduction of exhaust emissions even after a long exposure to lubricant contamination, maintaining a high efficiency during all its lifetime. Moreover, the effective service of this solution resulted prolonged if compared to standard after-treatment systems such a conventional three-way catalyst, as the latter greatly suffers the presence of partially burned oil produced by engines at the escape, especially after a very long running period. Catalyst failure is very common in ICE cogenerative and distributed plants making this prototype an important means to reduce emissions during the entire lifespan of cogenerative and distributed generation systems, which will be soon applied into smartgrids as energetic support of residential units and as recharger for electric vehicles.