The Vatican is taking another major step toward climate-neutral mobility by partnering with Elli, the energy and charging arm of Volkswagen Group, to support its growing electric vehicle fleet.
Under the new agreement, Elli will provide charging services and digital fleet management tools for the Vatican’s service vehicles, helping the state manage charging sessions, monitor energy use and control costs across Europe.
The partnership highlights a critical phase in fleet electrification: moving beyond vehicle delivery and building the infrastructure needed to keep operations running efficiently. According to Elli CEO Giovanni Palazzo, the real challenge for many institutions begins after electric vehicles are added to the fleet.
The Vatican has already made visible progress in its transition. In 2024, nearly 40 fully electric vehicles from Volkswagen ID. family were delivered as part of the state’s fleet modernization program. Additional electric utility vehicles followed in 2025, further expanding zero-emission transport within Vatican operations.
This latest deal supports the Vatican’s broader sustainability target of converting its entire vehicle fleet to climate-neutral mobility by 2030.
A key part of the new setup is Elli Mobility’s charging card, which gives Vatican employees access to more than one million public charging points across Europe. That wider charging network is especially important for official travel outside Vatican territory, where easy access to public infrastructure can reduce downtime and improve route flexibility.
The charging solution also includes transparent pricing for AC, DC and IONITY stations, helping the Vatican maintain predictable charging costs.
On the operational side, the Vatican will use Elli’s digital platform, Elli Fleet Charging, to oversee charging cards, billing and charging sessions from a central system. Fleet managers will be able to track energy consumption, assign charging cards digitally and export usage data for reporting and accounting.
The move reflects a broader trend across Europe, where corporate fleets account for roughly two-thirds of new vehicle registrations. For many businesses and institutions, electrifying fleets remains one of the most effective ways to reduce operational CO₂ emissions while improving cost transparency and efficiency.
Still, digital fleet management remains a weak spot for many organizations. An Elli Mobility survey conducted in Germany in August 2025 found that 26% of companies still rely on spreadsheets for fleet management, while another quarter use no dedicated digital tools at all. That gap often leaves efficiency gains and cost savings untapped.
With more than 20,000 companies already using Elli Mobility’s services, the Vatican partnership underscores how digital charging ecosystems are becoming essential for large-scale EV adoption. For fleet operators, successful electrification increasingly depends not just on switching vehicles, but on managing the full charging experience effectively.
