International study predicts 1 in 3 new cars in Malta will be electric by 2035

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.

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.