Malta launches clean vehicle scheme

The Maltese government is providing 3.5 million euros in subsidies for the changeover to cleaner vehicles. Grants are to be given to anyone who de-registers and scraps their old combustion engine, while grants of between 400 and 6,000 euros are available for electric vehicles ranging from pedelecs to cargo bikes and cars.

According to Transport Minister Ian Borg, a total of four new programs have been launched to promote clean mobility. They apply retroactively to vehicles purchased from 1 January 2020.

Although the scheme covers subsidies for all private vehicle types including pedelecs, cargo-bikes, mopeds, motorcycles and quadricycles, as well as electric cars, the government expects the greatest effect to come from a simpler form of “scrapping bonus.”  Anyone who scraps their old car when changing over to a “more environmentally friendly” vehicle will receive up to 900 euros. For de-registering and scrapping some types of combustion engine vehicles an additional 1000 euros is given if this vehicle is over 10 years old. Of the total sum of 3.5 million euros, up to 1.8 million euros are earmarked for this subsidy alone.

Even without scrapping an old vehicle, there are still 6,000 euros for an electric car and 2,000 euros for a used electric car (younger than 3 years and a maximum of 15,000 kilometres). For other vehicle types, subsidies start at 400 euros for an electric bicycle and increase to electric cargo bikes (2,000 euros). Electric motorcycles, mopeds and quadricycles, can receive between 400 and up to 6000 euros, depending on the type. Those who have their combustion engine converted to Autogas or LPG will be subsidised with up to 200 euros.

“The transport strategy we are implementing for our country, does not only address today’s challenges, but looks to provide sustainability which works hand in hand with conserving nature,” said Borg. The Minister of Transport also acknowledged, however, that the subsidies alone will not be enough to achieve all the government’s goals for the transport sector. He called on people to pay more attention to sustainability when buying a new vehicle.

The last time we heard from Malta was in early 2018 when the EU Commission was threatening to court action against Malta for failing to hand in a national strategy for rolling out infrastructure for electric and alternative fuel vehicles. Now it seems the small country is really getting the ball rolling with more sustainable transport.

timesofmalta.com, maltatoday.com.mt, transport.gov.mt (details on grant guidelines)