Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/878567
10 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2017 News From fossil fuels to electric: when will Malta make the switch? FIRST it was France that declared a ban on the sale of new gas and diesel-pow- ered cars starting in 2040; the United Kingdom followed suit announcing it too had similar plans to ban internal combustion engines and completely re- move them from roads by 2050. Norway, which already has Europe's largest market for electric vehicles, de- cided on 2025 as a cut-off for the sale of combustion engine vehicles. So it was only a matter of time until Prime Minister Joseph Muscat took on the issue as well. Using a Sunday speech marking the first 100 days of his second term in power, Muscat said consultative talks were required to establish a cut-off date by which the sale of diesel- and pet- rol-powered cars are banned. What has perhaps gone unnoticed so far is that Transport Malta already pub- lished a national action plan and a mas- ter plan last year. The targets indicated in both docu- ments were based on the European Commission's Transport White Paper which sets indicative targets for Member States to follow. The EU wants to dramatically reduce the EU's dependence on imported oil and cut carbon emissions in transport by 60% by 2050. The interim targets indicated by Malta are to have 20% clean energy vehicles by 2025 and 50% by 2030. The Maltese government has also indi- cated that it would deploy 500 charging points for electric vehicles. "These have to be implemented irre- spective of the demand available at the time," a Transport Malta spokesperson told MaltaToday, adding that this target superseded the national target of 5,000 electric vehicles to be registered in Malta by 2020. There are currently 102 charging points across the island, and by May this year, a total of 258 fully electrical vehi- cles were registered. In total, motorists had purchased 976 units of full electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, range extender electric vehicle and hybrid vehicles. In a bid to further encourage the pur- chase of clean energy vehicles the gov- ernment offers a number of grants. "We acknowledge that currently there isn't a wide choice of EVs that one can choose from, but Malta does have a good percentage of EVs being sold on the Eu- ropean market. Some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) do not export to Malta. In itself this is not a simple pro- cess, as the respective car manufacturers would have to test the national charging network beforehand to ascertain com- patibility," Transport Malta pointed out. The switch to cleaner energy is also an infrastructural headache. Encouraging motorists to go for EVs is pointless un- less the country's infrastructure can ac- commodate that demand. The transport authority just concluded a detailed study that indicates where the remaining EV charging network – out of 500 – will be deployed. "The target is to at least have an EV pil- lar in every town and village, and then start increasing the supply according to the demand," the spokesperson said. New buildings must also cater for such an increase in demand, and the transport authority is lobbying for new develop- ment – including shopping malls, hotels and residential complexes – to provide EV charging facilities on their property. Indeed, it was during Malta's presiden- cy of the Council of the European Union that member states agreed on a proposal for a revised directive on the energy per- formance of buildings – in particular, the promotion of electro-mobility by re- quiring at least one charging point and pre-cabling for every third parking space for electric vehicles in non-residential buildings and pre-cabling for every park- ing space in residential buildings. The requirements, according to the proposals, will apply to buildings with more than 10 parking spaces. What are the official plans for a cut-off date? "The Government is not just talking, but is also implementing in a concrete manner. We also keep contact with stakeholders all the time. We are try- ing to accelerate the change. Such work however will need to be done carefully," the Transport Malta spokesman said. TM claims any policy must be "sen- sitive" to private companies that own mostly diesel fleet. In line with state aid rules, the government has made grants available to further engage stakeholders to see how this can be taken to the next level. "In the near future, Transport Malta and the government will take additional measures to promote sustainable trans- port, including new maritime ferry ser- vice routes, upgrading of the respective infrastructure and exploring additional public transport services to increase ca- pacity and reliability while also promot- ing softer modes of transport such as walking and cycling." A policy will also soon be published by Transport Malta on the use of cycling as means of commuting as well as how to make it safer. Are car importers geared up for EV demand? The government still needs to offer more financial incentives to help per- suade more people to opt for electric ve- hicles, a representative of a major local importer told MaltaToday. Sandro Cauchi, general manager of "The government and TM need to give more financial incentives to persuade people to buy electric vehicles" Making a clean switch from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles is no mean feat for a country not yet weaned from petrol and diesel cars. How possible is it to make Malta go green? By PAUL COCKS and MIRIAM DALLI €8,000 grant on the purchase of a full Electric Vehicle, Range Extender Electric Vehicles and Plug- in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (with a defined mandatory battery autonomy) as well as Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles, when combined with scrapping an older vehicle. A €5,000 grant is given for first time EV buyers and second hand imported EVs with conditions A €2,000 grant for electric quadricycles Private companies can benefit from a total of €200,000 of grants Assisting companies to install EV charging points as well as a grant of up to €25,000 to assist car importers to upgrade their servicing facilities and retrain people GRANTS OFFERED