Malta will get 130 new electric car charging points in the coming months, which is double the number currently installed, as the government tries to convince people to change their transport habits.

Transport Malta’s director for land transport Gilbert Agius confirmed this move in an interview with ONE, adding that around 20 of these charging points will be ‘fast’ ones, meaning they will charge cars within two to three hours.

“Transport Malta has already removed the registration tax for electric cars, the license is free for the first five years and €10 from the fifth year onwards, electric cars can drive through bus lanes and CVA is free,” Agius said. “We’re committed to incentivising people to buy electric cars in the coming years.”

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Recent statistics show that 5% of the new vehicles added to Malta’s roads in the second quarter of the year were electric cars, which is double the average rate in Europe, where electric cars represented only 2.5% of all cars sold in 2018.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has repeatedly pledged to introduce a cut-off date for the importation of petrol and diesel cars, after which all new cars will have to be electric.

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