Electric vehicle stocks in Malta running low

Consumers shopping around informed this newsroom that importers are saying they have an “extremely” limited stock of electric cars, saying that they “will not order any new electric vehicle (EV) stock” until they learn whether the generous EV grant will be extended into 2025, or not.

BusinessNow.mt is reliably informed that one such importer is Gasan Zammit Motors, the local agent for Volvo, Ford, Mazda, Honda and BYD, among others.

The issue is compounded by what one importer described as “a rush” to buy EVs by those who would have otherwise waited until 2025 to make the high ticket purchase.

The news follows persistent rumours that the grant of €11,000 to buyers of a new EV is set to be reduced or eliminated in the upcoming Government Budget for 2025, with importers warning prospective buyers that the chances of a renewal of the popular scheme are low.

On Monday (today), Times of Malta revealed that the Association of Car Importers Malta (ACIM) has not been given any guarantees that the subsidy will continue into 2025.

Minister for Finance Clyde Caruana simply told the newspaper that the Budget “is in the works,” while pointing out that the EU funds secured for the scheme for the three years to 2024 “have already been fully taken up and the government has had to finance the scheme, through the rest of the year, by utilising national funds.”

That outlay may be deemed surplus to requirements as Minister Caruana aims to strike a delicate balance between previously announced plans to run economy-boosting deficits and pressure from the European Commission and national stakeholders to rein in Government spending.

Electric vehicles have a double impact on Government finances, running up expenditure through the grant offered to new buyers while cutting important sources of Government revenue.

EVs enjoy exemptions from car registration tax and annual road licence fees. They also indirectly impact state coffers by reducing demand for heavily taxed oil-based fuel.