Malta Government grant for electric vehicles & plug in hybrids increases by €3,000

Malta’s Government has announced an increase to the grant being awarded for the purchase of electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, from €8,000 to €11,000.

Those who avail themselves of the vehicle scrappage scheme, meaning they agree to scrap their current vehicle when upgrading to an electric vehicle, will see the grant go up to €12,000.

For residents of Gozo, the €1,000 scrappage scheme goes up to €2,000, for a total grant of €13,000.

The information came to light on Monday evening as part of the Government’s Budget 2022 proposals. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said this particular measure will come into effect on Tuesday. 

Stakeholders, speaking to BusinessNow.mt last month, said they had heard rumours that the current grant of €8,000 would be increasing to €11,000 or even €14,000. 

Minister Clyde Caruana, during the Budget speech, also announced an extension of the exemption of registration tax and road licence payment for a period of five years when purchasing an electric vehicle.

With charging infrastructure identified as the greatest stumbling block to EV adoption by both owners and importers, Government is aiming to increase the number of charging pillars (confirmed to be around 1,200 over the next three years during the Budget speech) and incentivise home charging by offering advantageous electricity rates at off-peak times, according to a draft strategy for the sector.

Other schemes announced during the Budget speech include one designed to assist enterprises in replacing ICE vehicles to electric vehicles by covering part of the cost difference between them. Businesses can benefit from this scheme when changing existing vehicles to new electric vehicles.

Extension of other schemes towards less polluting vehicles

Meanwhile, other measures related to the purchase of electric vehicles, including relief from registration tax and exemption from the payment of the annual road license for a period of five years from the date of first registration, will be extended by another year.

From the beginning of 2023, the capping of plug-in vehicles hybrids will rise from 30 kilometres to 50 kilometres.

The special rate applicable to residential homes for individuals having an electric vehicle which they charge overnight will remain in place.

Schemes for a grant equivalent to a full refund on VAT on electronic bicycles will be extended again, and the same applies to the scheme to incentivise the purchase of motorcycles, scooters, pedelecs and bicycles assisted by an electric motor, as well as the grant for whoever switches their vehicle to run on gas instead of gasoline.

Click here to watch Minister Caruana deliver the speech in Parliament, or here for measures specifically aimed at the business community. You can see what the Budget had in store for the property sector here, or for the labour market here.