Transport Minister Chris Bonett has revealed in Parliament that between January and September 2024, 3,183 applications for subsidies on new electric vehicles were approved, amounting to €25.5 million in financial support.
He also confirmed that the scheme for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which was closed in 2022, will not be reinstated.
However, the Government will retain the subsidy for electric vehicle purchases next year, albeit at a reduced rate.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced during the Budget speech that the maximum grant per car will be lowered to €8,000, down from the current limit of €11,000.
Interestingly, statistics from the third quarter of 2024 revealed a notable shift in consumer preferences between electric and hybrid vehicles compared to the previous quarter.
While sales of fully electric vehicles decreased by 14.2 per cent, plug-in hybrid vehicles (diesel-electric) saw a rise of 22.2 per cent. Similarly, sales of mild hybrid vehicles (diesel-electric) increased by eight per cent, while those of mild hybrids (petrol-electric) rose by 5.8 per cent.
These trends suggest an evolving dynamic in Malta’s transition to greener transportation, as consumers balance the benefits of fully electric and hybrid technologies.
Gozo business groups avoid direct comment on Portelli’s approved Xlendi ‘tower’
The development was approved yesterday
Cloudflare suffers second major outage in a month, knocking global platforms offline
The outage comes amid scheduled maintenance at Cloudflare’s Detroit data centre
New advisory group formed to address migrant labour challenges in Malta’s ride-hailing and delivery sectors
'Effective migration governance requires collective action'