Photo Voltaic Electric Vehicle launch

PORT-PVEV –
Photo Voltaic Electric Vehicle was launched on the 29th of November 2013 by
the  Minister for Transport and
Infrastructure Hon Joe Mizzi during a Conference of the project entitled 'Electro-mobility
Islands'

Hon
Mizzi said that the aim of government is to work towards making transport in
Malta environmentally sustainable.  Hon
Mizzi referred to the latest national greenhouse gas inventory, road transport
which currently accounts to 16.9% of the total greenhouse gas emissions
generated in Malta, as unacceptable.

The
scope of the project is to determine how to make ports and port-areas cleaner,
whilst also making them more energy-efficient. The fact that these electric
vehicles do not emit any harmful pollutants means that the deployment of these
cars on our roads will improve air quality by the removal of traffic related
emissions and will also reduce noise pollution.        

This project will also propose additional future measures of how to make
ports in Malta and Sicily cleaner by engaging electro-mobility together with
the generation and use of renewable sources of energy to provide different
forms of clean transportation.

Government
decided to support this initiative because of the 2020 climate change and
energy targets that Malta needs to achieve.

Hon
Mizzi said government is planning that by the year 2020, there would be no less
than 5,000 electric vehicles on the Maltese roads, together with mandatory
targets for the respective infrastructure. Government will also be launching
three other initiatives to show its commitment towards electro-mobility and
environmental sustainability.

A joint
initiative between the Ministry of Transport and Transport Malta will be
launching the Malta National Electro-mobility Action Platform, besides the
promotion of electro-mobility in Malta, the role of the MNEP will be to oversee
the implementation of the Action Plan which is made up of various projects and
initiatives that will further the electrification of transport.

The
government will also be incentivising the uptake of battery electric vehicles
by giving a substantial grant of €5,000 for the purchase of a battery electric
vehicle. This measure will enter into effect as from January 2014 and the
grants will be given on a first come first served basis.

This
scheme will be part of the scrappage scheme which was announced in the Budget
for 2014.

Hon
Mizzi also said that as from next year, the government will embark upon a
gradual process of changing its current vehicle fleet to a much cleaner and
energy-efficient one.