Opportunities in Malta’s Emerging Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Topic: “Opportunities in Malta’s Emerging Electric Vehicle Infrastructure”

Host: Chargé d’affaires Gwendolyn “Wendy” Green

Date and Time:  Recorded Tuesday, June 28th, 2022

Brief Description of Call:  On June 28th, 2022, Direct Line program brought U.S. businesses to the island of Malta to connect with Chargé d’affaires Gwendolyn “Wendy” Green and Maltese decision makers and policy experts from the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise and the Malta Foundation for Transport to explore “Opportunities in Malta’s Emerging Electric Vehicle Infrastructure.”

The State Department’s Office of Commercial and Business Affairs understands that U.S. companies are busy and cannot always join us live for our webinars.  To connect more U.S. companies with business opportunities overseas, we are offering readouts from our calls, including: pared down video excerpts from the live Direct Line presentations, and the most compelling statistics presented in the webinar, as well as direct contact with our Embassy officials liaising on these in-country opportunities.  If you have feedback on this new feature of the Direct Line program, questions regarding this specific opportunity, or ideas for future Direct Lines, please reach out to our Direct Line staff at directlinenotification@state.gov.

Supporting statistics for U.S. companies considering getting involved with Malta’s Emerging Electric Vehicle Infrastructure 

• Malta will be investing over $116 million dollars from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility funds by 2026. This amount represents about 32 percent of the country’s allocated funds to address its 2050 carbon-neutrality objective, with a substantial portion of these funds being channeled towards the decarbonization of transport.
• Malta has 751 cars for every 1,000 residents and Gozo has 1,179 for every 1,000 residents meaning Malta has the 3rd highest vehicles per capita in the world
• Malta’s government issuing grants of up to 13,000 Euros to opt for an electric vehicle, which makes the country amongst the highest Member States within the EU to offer such grants.

• In 2020, there were only ~2000 EVs in Malta, there are now roughly ~9452
• The Maltese government is now setting a goal for the electrification of vehicles to reach 65,000 within 90 months (up to 2030).
• Malta committed to the 2034 ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cutoff date, with the possibility to push forward even sooner
• 362 Public Accessible Charging Points launched and planned implementation of 1,200 charging points over the next 3 years
• ICE Vehicle in Malta costs an average of ~30 Euros per week for fuel vs an EV which costs an average of only ~13 Euros per week for electricity

U.S. Companies interested in getting in touch with our Commercial Team at Embassy Valletta 

Our Commercial Specialist performs match-making services, conducts due diligence checks, and advises U.S. companies on specific considerations related to individual business cases.  U.S. companies should email Maria Cassar at maltabusiness@state.gov.

Part One: Video Featuring Remarks by U.S. Embassy Valletta Moderator and Chargé d’Affaires Wendy Green

Part Two: Video Featuring Remarks by Jeannette Axisa, Malta’s Foundation for Transport President

Please note that the presentation of Ing. Abigail Cutajar, Advisor to the Maltese Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise, will be available as soon as the Government of Malta launches the one-stop-shop related to the EV opportunities and further details are made publicly available.