EV charging points to almost double by end of year

The number of charging points for electric cars in Malta will almost double by the end of the year, to hit 362, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli announced on Thursday.

A number of charging stations are currently in the process of being installed, and a new mobile app, called ‘Charge my Ride,’ will also be launched in the coming months.

As things stand, there are slightly over 100 charging pillars in place, whereas by mid-November, there will be 160 pillars, providing 202 charging points, the Minister said.

Installations will then ramp up in December, with the plan being to hit the aforementioned target of 362 points by the end of the year, in a €3 million investment partially funded through EU funds.

The move comes as the Government has prioritised the fostering of electric vehicles in Malta, as a key element of its strategy to dramatically reduce carbon emissions.

As part of this, the Budget 2022 included significantly increased incentives for those purchasing electric cars, with grants of up to €12,000 available for those scrapping their current vehicles and replacing them with the more eco-friendly ones.

However, industry stakeholders had warned that increasing the stock of electric vehicles on Maltese roads may rely on a significant jump in charging infrastructure, rather than simple price incentives.

“We need an increase in public charging points – a big one. There aren’t all that many charging bays currently available when considering the existing number of EVs. That problem will only get worse without large investment,” Marcella Tunariu, Kind’s Auto Sales Ltd’s marketing manager, told BusinessNow.mt earlier this year.

Although the new charging pillars will operated by different operators, they are required to follow the Open Charge Point protocol, making them interoperable and open to all EV users. 

According to the Minister Dalli, when the charging points are implemented, their usage will be amongst the cheapest in Europe – with a person driving 50km daily only spending some €13 weekly to power their vehicle.