Electric vehicle grant extended in 2024, ‘financial assistance’ for first-time buyers of ekick scooters

Schemes for the purchase of new electric vehicles, including electric motorbikes will be extended in 2024, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana confirmed when delivering the Budget speech on Wednesday evening in Parliament.

This includes a grant for the scrapping of old vehicles, as well as schemes that incentivise the purchase of bicycles and electric pedelecs and the grant for those who convert their vehicle to run on gas instead of petrol. The scheme for vehicles (such as Taxis) that are accessible by wheelchair and used for the carriage of passengers with rental or compensation will also be renewed.

The grant to purchase new electric vehicles is currently set at €11,000, with the potential of a €1,000 add-on for those scrapping their previous vehicle. The amount of the grant was revised from 2021, increasing from the previous €8,000, as part of the government’s push to electrify the national fleet to meet the country’s emissions targets.

Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles with a range of 50km or more will remain exempt from registration tax and exempt from paying annual road license for a period of five years from the date of first registration.

Schemes for vehicles that have photovoltaic panels installed, those that are converted to take particle filter diesel fuel and selective catalytic reduction systems, as well as those that switch from ICE vehicles to electric vehicles will also be extended in 2024.

Minister Caruana confirmed that to date, the amount of electricity or plug-in hybrid vehicles exceeds 13,000.

He also announced that “financial assistance” for first time buyers of ekick personal scooters, and urged interested parties to use them “wisely” and with respect to others. Government recently banned the rental of such scooters, citing public nuisance and the inability of the companies renting them out to the public to enforce proper use.