The government recently launched a scheme aimed at encouraging more people to buy electric cars in Malta. Under the scheme, a rebate of 25 per cent of the cost of the car would be offered up to a maximum of €4,000.

The scheme applies only to private vehicles bought before the end of this year. About 100 electric charging points are being installed in Malta and Gozo before the year’s end, making Malta one of the first European countries to have a nationwide charging system. The scheme is intended to kick-start the sale of electric cars in Malta, thereby benefiting the environment.

With growing election fever in Malta, the first question the cynical man in the street would ask himself is whether this is simply another example of gesture politics aimed at encouraging the feel-good factor, or is there a genuine long-term benefit which the country will derive from this scheme?

While it is as well for the Maltese public to be wary of ministers bearing gifts in the run-up to an election, the dire state of Malta’s polluted traffic cannot be denied.

The introduction of electric cars in their numbers would help to alleviate it. Driving a car is the most polluting activity committed by citizens in Malta. The number of licensed vehicles has increased dramatically over the past 15 years, and continues to increase.

There are now over 300,000 vehicles for a population of just over 400,000, circulating in just 2,000 kilometres of road. Although a brand new and more comprehensive public transport system has been launched, private car use remains unacceptably high, with almost 80 per cent of the population using their car as their main mode of transport.

The upshot of all this is that Malta is characterised by dense, polluting traffic in a mostly urban setting. The ‘stop-go’ nature of driving in built-up areas further increases emissions and pollution is intensified by the narrow roads which trap fumes and do not allow them to disperse.

In order to reduce pollution in our streets it is necessary to implement a range of measures to discourage the purchase of unnecessarily large, high-powered cars, to persuade people to limit the use of their cars and to promote a lifestyle that includes healthy mobility through cycling and walking. It is in this context that the government’s initiative on electric cars should be viewed.

Malta’s size makes the battery-driven electric car an excellent low pollution alternative to the petrol- or diesel-driven car. Electric cars provide a cleaner alternative to other cars since they do not emit any pollutants at street level. They are remarkably economical to run. There is unfortunately a lingering prejudice against electric cars because of their still high purchase cost and possible difficulties over future battery replacements (although the latter is now in reality not a major problem, nor an exorbitant cost).

The bottom line is that although this is a limited initiative by government, it is at least a start. While it is doubtful whether government will get anywhere near the target of 15,000 electric cars by 2020 which it has set itself – numbers today stand at only 30 – the process of educating the public to the benefits and cost-effectiveness of the electric car has begun.

The costs of electric cars are becoming ever more competitive and this should encourage government to expand this scheme in due course if it is truly genuine in its desire to encourage greater electric car ownership.