Malta to allocate €3.5 million to sustainable vehicle schemes

The government of Malta has announced that it is allocating €3.5 million in transport schemes, with the aim of sustaining the environment through greener and more sustainable vehicles.

“The transport strategy we are implementing for our country does not only address today’s challenges, but looks to provide sustainability which works hand in hand with conserving nature,” said Borg.

1. Purchase of new environment friendly vehicles (Scrappage Scheme)

Under this scheme, €900, or the equivalent to the amount of registration tax paid on a vehicle up to a maximum of €1,500, will be given to persons registering a new Category M1 vehicle with CO₂ emission levels up to 100g/km.

€800 will be given to persons registering a new Category M1 vehicle with CO₂ emissions levels between 101 and 130 g/km.

€2,000 will be given to persons registering a new category M1 Hybrid Vehicle with CO₂ emissions between 46 and 65g/km.

2. Convert vehicles to Autogas/LPG

The government has allocated €100,000 for this scheme.

3. Electric vehicles / plug in hybrids

Persons will receive €7,000 when registering a new electric vehicle (EV) falling under the M1 or N1 category while de-registering and scrapping another M1, M2, N1or N2 ICE vehicle which is at least 10 years old from its year of manufacture.

 €6,000 will be allocated when registering a new EV falling under the M1 or N1 category without de-registering and scrapping an older ICE vehicle.

€2,000 is awarded when registering an imported second-hand EV falling under the M1 or N1 category. The EV should not be older than 36 months and should not exceed 15,000km on the odometer

When registering a new electric quadricycle or electric motorcycle falling under the L6e-B, L7e-B and L3e-A category the grant will be of 25 per cent of the CIF value which amount will be capped to €6,000.

When de-registering and scrapping another M1, M2, N1 or N2 ICE vehicle which is at least 10 years old from its year of manufacture an additional €1,000 will be given.

€400 will be given to private individuals purchasing a new pedelec (electric bike).

€2,000 will be given to private individuals purchasing a new cargo pedelec.

€400 will be given to those purchasing and registering a new electric motorcycle/ scooters/ mopeds /quadricycle falling under the L1e, L2e, L3e-A1, L3e-A2, L5e, L6e or L7e categories.

This scheme shall remain into force until 31 December 2020 or until the exhaustion of budget funds unless modified or terminated beforehand by a Notice in the Government Gazette.

4. New wheelchair accessible taxis or passenger transport vehicles

A grant of €10,000 upon registering a new wheelchair accessible taxi (WAT) or a Passenger Transport Vehicle up to a maximum of €100,000 per year is available.

Through this scheme, persons who own a Taxi license, a Public Service Garage license for the hiring of Vehicles with a Driver or an Operator’s License for the Carriage of Passengers by Passenger Transport Vehicles may receive a grant amounting to €10,000 when licensing a new M1 or M2 category.

Persons who have registered a car on the 1 January 2020 or thereafter and which qualifies for these schemes including plugin and electric cars may apply.

The Malta Transport Minister acknowledged that these subsidies alone will not be enough to achieve all the government’s sustainability goals for the transport sector, and called upon the people of Malta to pay more attention to sustainability when buying a new vehicle.