## 1 Introduction  
Transportation represents a strategic and necessary sector of the world economy that directly affects the daily life of all people. In the last few decades, the volume of goods and passengers moved worldwide has recorded a momentous growth that is expected to continue. Indeed, road transport represents the most popular method of conveying goods and passengers. According to estimates by the European Commission, by 2050 passenger transport will grow by more than 50% and freight transport by 80% compared to growth levels in 2013 [1; 2; 3]. Regrettably, the transport industry in Europe depends heavily on fossil fuels, which presents a serious challenge to the environment. Oil consumption not only releases greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere, contributing negatively to climate change, but also makes the European economy more vulnerable to global fluctuations in prices of energy resources. Lately, technological advancements have made it possible to secure better returns on new electric vehicles (EVs) sold. Vehicular performance has also improved significantly in terms of consumption, energy efficiency and emissions of pollutants into the environment. These gains were the result of the introduction of more restrictive measures [2; 3; 4]. In this new market framework for the automotive sector, the energy efficiency of the electric car makes it a potentially important tool to reduce the environmental impacts of private mobility. Remarkably, electric motors convert between 59% and 62% of electricity emanating from the network into propulsion power, compared to conventional endothermic engines whose conversion rate from fossil fuel energy to propulsion power is only between 17% and 21% due to significant heat and transmission losses that occur [5; 6; 7]. As the number of vehicles on the road and the distances travelled continue to grow, it becomes necessary to establish a new clean, intelligent and complete mobility system that meets people's transportation requirements and guarantees important new services to users. The transfer of some pollutants from the point of generation where the car circulates, to the location of the power plants allows not only a reduction in the subjects exposed to the pollution, but also a minimization of atmospheric pollutants, provided that the electricity used originates from renewable sources or from nuclear installations. This is true if the electricity used to power the car's electric batteries is generated by systems capable of producing less than 700 g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour, as pointed out by the International Energy Agency [8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15]. Therefore, this highlights the lack of environmental benefits in places where energy production systems depend mainly on coal. However, this transformation is not tied exclusively to technological improvements, but above all to man's willingness and readiness to change his habits [16; 17; 18]. The transition is unlikely to happen rapidly. The de-carbonization process definitely requires extended time horizons, given the complexity that the subject presents. A combination of measures is needed, especially better urban planning, technological improvements, a wider use of alternative fuels, the continuous adoption of cutting-edge technologies and a more rigorous application of existing rules [19; 20; 21; 22]. An overview of current and future challenges of the electric distribution system is presented in the next section. It will highlight the innovations that will be needed and constraints that the distribution system will likely encounter in future years in the objective to transform the current electricity grid into a new smart system that is able to tackle and automatically resolve problems.