Electric Car Electric Vehicle EV pexels

A new international study is predicting that Malta will have the 12th-highest proportion of electric vehicle (EV) sales across Europe by 2035, with a third of new car registrations in that year expected to be powered by battery.

The study, undertaken by the UK-based insurance and finance comparison website Confused.com, analysed historical trends and data from the European Environment Agency (EEA) and Eurostat to predict which European countries are likely to have the highest proportion of electric vehicle sales by 2035.

In 2020, EVs made up just over three per cent of the new cars registered in Malta. In Norway, long recognised for its leadership in the field and the strong incentives it offers its citizens to make the switch, over half of all new cars are electric.

The Netherlands is a distant second place, with 22.9 per cent of new cars being electric in 2020, though, like Norway, it is expected that practically all its new vehicles will run on electricity by 2035.

Results of the Confused.com study (2022)

Northern Europe is clearly expected to continue leading the way in this sector, with Sweden, Denmark and Germany all included in the top six. The only Southern European country to have over half of its 2045 car sales being electric is Portugal.

Although Malta is expected to see a ten-fold increase in EV interest, this remains far from the Government’s own targets, which are aiming at the full phase-out of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2050.

With only a third of all new cars predicted to be electric by 2035, this study pours more cold water on Malta’s plans.

Related

Microsoft Copilot to be rolled out across 8,000 public sector laptops in €4 million AI investment

May 21, 2025
by Nicole Zammit

The initiative includes the establishment of a Centre of Excellence operated in collaboration with Microsoft

Malta Business Bureau publishes policy brief about Union of Skills initiative

May 21, 2025
by Adel Montanaro

The initiative aims to tackle the growing challenges of skill gaps and labour shortages across the EU

Maltese Government greenlights public land transfer to address affordability crisis

May 20, 2025
by Adel Montanaro

The initiative supports those who earn too much for social housing but can’t afford market-priced homes