Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/794736
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 MARCH 2017 8 News JAMES DEBONO USING Transport Malta's new charging points to power electric cars comes at a greater cost than charging from home, MaltaToday has discovered. Users of the TM charging ser- vice have to pay a one-time sub- scription of €50, plus a refundable guarantee of €100 to be able to use the charging points. Customers then pay a €12 or €5.95 monthly fee – depending on the charging rate selected – plus a consump- tion tariff at 20c/kWh. The new tariff that is paid to Solar Solutions, the company awarded the tender for the charg- ing points, has been deemed ex- orbitant by companies who con- tacted this newspaper, who claim it is nearly double the rate paid if one charges at home. This is especially the case for companies which have a number of cars which are constantly on the move and cannot afford to return to headquarters every time they have to charge. "Charging from home would be cheaper, as long as annual con- sumption thresholds are not ex- ceeded," a spokesperson for the Transport Ministry confirmed with MaltaToday. Over the past years the govern- ment has provided a number of incentives to entice conventional car owners to switch to electric cars. As from this year, individuals, all registered commercial compa- nies and entities, NGOs and local councils, can benefit from grants to purchase electric vehicles. These grants cover a number of new emerging technologies from full electric vehicles to plug-in hy- brid electric vehicles and plug-in range extender electric vehicles. The procurement of 50 electric vehicle charging pillars across Malta and Gozo, and their man- agement and maintenance, was part of the EU co-funded LIFE+ Demo-EV project contract awarded to Solar Solutions Ltd following the public call for ten- ders issued in 2012. The manage- ment and maintenance contract lasts until June 2019. The Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure had also issued an- other public tender in 2014 for the deployment and installation of three solar electric car port charging stations, now located in the parking area of the Ta' Xbiex Marina, at the car park of the Deep Water Quay in Marsa, and another at the Cirkewwa Gozo Ferry Terminal car park. Current- ly, charging an electric vehicle on these solar car-ports is totally free, the Transport Ministry said. EV grants The highest grant for a new electric vehicle this year has been increased to €8,000, when com- bined with a scheme to scrap an older internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. The grant for the purchase of a new electric vehi- cle without scrapping an older conventional car has now been increased to €5,000. Similarly, the grant for the purchase of im- ported second hand electric ve- hicles (with conditions) has been increased to €5,000. To encourage commercial com- panies to change their conven- tional car fleet to an electric one, Transport Malta has increased the total maximum grant a com- pany can get to a grand total of €200,000, in line with the state aid rules. This is a stark increase from the maximum €15,000 offered by the government in 2016, which at that time was also a first. Apart from these grants, the an- nual road licence for the above technologies is just €10 per year, and registration taxes for electric vehicles are one third of the full tax. Companies can also benefit from tax incentives which had been introduced some years back. Driving electric? It's cheaper to charge your car from home The new tariff paid to the company awarded the tender for the charging points has been deemed exorbitant by companies who claim it is nearly double the rate paid if one charges at home