Purchase of New Electric Vehicles 2023
The information in this page refers to applications submitted throughout 2023. For the conditions applicable during 2024 kindly refer to this page.
The information included in this page is meant to provide information about this incentive scheme, without prejudice to any provision in the respective scheme as published on the government gazzette, downloadable here.
This financial incentive intends to further promote the use of new electric vehicles in Category L, M and N and pedelecs, and is aimed at:
- Persons residing in Malta;
- Voluntary organisations (including NGOs); and
- Undertakings established in Malta.
The Ultimate Beneficiary Owner of the applicant shall be considered as the ultimate beneficiary of any grant issued under these financial incentives.
For a comparison of the average price to drive 100km with an electric vehicle and with a conventional vehicle, check here.
This incentive allows a mix and match of purchase of new electric vehicles and pedelecs, and replacement of old vehicles. The grant shall support the purchase of:
- New passenger cars;
- Goods carrying vehicles;
- Minibuses;
- Coaches;
- Quadricycle;
- Motorcycles; and
- Pedelecs.
The grant includes a scrappage scheme intended to provide further financial support to applicants who, while purchasing and registering a new electric vehicle or pedelec, deregister a vehicle of any category which is at least 10 years old from its year of manufacture.
The budgeted funds for this scheme amount to €15,000,000.
The Incentive Details
Incentives to be paid after the registration a new electric vehicle or pedelec by a person, voluntary organisation or business undertaking under the De Minimis State Aid Rules*
| Type of Vehicle | Grant Amount |
|---|---|
| Pedelecs | €500 per vehicle. |
| Cargo Pedelecs L1e-A/B - Powered cycles & Two-wheel mopeds L3e-A1/A2 - Low & Medium performance motorcycle L4e-A1/A2 - Low & Medium performance two-wheel motorcycle with side-car L5e - Powered Tricycle with power not exceeding 15kW. L6e - Light quadricycles or quadri-mobile. |
€2,000 per vehicle, but not more than 80% of the selling price. |
| L2e - Three-wheel mopeds; L3e-A3 - High-performance motorcycle; L4e-A3 - High-performance two-wheel motorcycle with side-car. L5e - Powered Tricycle with power exceeding 15kW. L7e - Heavy quadricycles or quadri-mobiles |
25% of CIF, capped at €6,000 per vehicle. |
| M1 - Car N1 - Vans |
€11,000 per vehicle. |
| M2 - Minibus N2 - Small Truck |
40% of selling price, capped at €70,000 per vehicle. |
NOTE 1: CIF value refers to the Cost, Insurance and Freight Value, as indicated in the respective invoice.
NOTE 2: Invoice value is the value of the vehicle being registered, as indicated in the respective invoice.
Incentives to be paid after the registration of a new electric vehicle or pedelec by a business undertaking under the General Block Exemption Regulations**
| Type of Vehicle | Grant Amount |
|---|---|
| Pedelecs Cargo Pedelecs L1e-A/B - Powered cycles & Two-wheel mopeds L2e - Three-wheel mopeds; L3e-A1/A2/A3 - Low & Medium performance motorcycle L4e-A1/A2/A3 - Low & Medium performance two-wheel motorcycle with side-car L5e - Powered Tricycle. L6e - Light quadricycles or quadri-mobile. L7e - Heavy quadricycles or quadri-mobiles |
Refer to Table below. Capped at €5,000 per vehicle. |
| M1 - Car N1 - Vans |
Refer to Table below. Capped at €20,000 per vehicle. |
| M2 - Minibus N2 - Small Truck |
Refer to Table below. Capped at €70,000 per vehicle. |
| M3 - Coaches N3 - Trucks |
Refer to Table below. Capped at €400,000 per vehicle. |
Grant amounts according to the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)**
| Size of Single Undertaking | Small¢ | Medium¥ | Large§ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Incentive as Percentage of Investment Cost¶ | 60% | 50% | 40% | ||||
| Additional incentive applicable to applicants established in and operating from any of the following localities: | 5% | ||||||
| Valletta | Birgu | Isla | Bormla | Floriana | |||
| Kalkara | Luqa | Marsa | Paola | Qormi | |||
| Birkirkara | Gzira | Pembroke | St.Julian’s | San Gwann | |||
| Sliema | Zejtun | Birzebbugia | Kirkop | Marsascala | |||
| Marsaxlokk | Safi | Mdina | Zebbug (Malta) | Attard | |||
| Dingli | Rabat (Malta) | Mellieha | Mosta | Naxxar | |||
| St.Paul’s Bay | Comino | Gozo | |||||
¢‘small enterprise’ means an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed 10 million Euro;
¥‘medium enterprise’ means an enterprise which employs fewer than 250 persons and which has an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million Euro, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million Euro, and which is not a small enterprise.
§‘large enterprise’ means an enterprise which is not a medium or small enterprise.
¶The difference between the cost of the new electric vehicle and that of an equivalent conventional vehicle.
Incentives to be paid when a vehicle in scrapped in conjunction with any other grant for the purchase of an electric vehicle.
| Category of Scrapped Vehicle | Place of Registration of Scrapped Vehicle | |
|---|---|---|
| Malta | Gozo µ | |
| L (Motorcycles) | €500 | €500 |
| M1 (Car) or N1 (Van) | €1,000 | €2,000 |
| M2 (Minibus) | €30,000 | €31,000 |
| N2 (Small Truck) | €15,000 | €16,000 |
| M3 (Coach) | €50,000 | €51,000 |
| N3 (Truck) | €25,000 | €26,000 |
µVehicle must have been registered, garaged, or licensed in Gozo prior to the 11th of October 2021.
NOTE 1: Incentives for vehicles scrapped by undertakings established in Malta or voluntary organisations which carry out any economic activity within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU shall be regulated by the De Minimis Rules* in all cases, even if included in an application under the General Block Exemption Regulation**.
NOTE 2: To be eligible for this scrappage scheme, the deregistered vehicle shall be from the same or smaller category as the new Electric Vehicle being registered. However, when an applicant registers a new category L vehicle, the applicant may deregister a vehicle from category L or M1 or N1 and still be eligible for the scrappage scheme grant.
NOTE 3: Deregistered vehicles which had benefitted from the provisions of S.L.65.24 shall not be eligible for this scrappage scheme.
NOTE 4: Vehicles must be scrapped at Authorised Treatment Facilities approved in compliance with the Waste Management (End of Life) Regulations – S.L.549.36. Destruction Certificates issued must be dated 2022 or 2023.
NOTE 5: The vehicle to be scrapped must be registered on the applicant’s name on the date of registration of the new Electric Vehicle unless it is scrapped and deregistered before such date.
NOTE 6: Applications for scrappage scheme submitted without the destruction certificate for the scrapped vehicle will be disregarded and the final grant amount will be calculated without the scrappage grant.
NOTE 7: Grants will be paid out via bank transfer to the bank account indicated in the application form. Applicants are required to submit evidence that such bank account is held by themselves, solely or jointly, or by a spouse in the same household. Grants cannot be paid to bank accounts held by third parties.
GENERAL NOTE 1: Incentives applicable for special purpose vehicles (SP1) shall be established based on the vehicle’s maximum permissible mass and the corresponding limits for Category N vehicles.
GENERAL NOTE 2: The total grant issued to applicants for any of these incentives shall not exceed the purchase price of the new electric vehicle or pedelec.
Choosing between De Minimis* and GBER**
Undertakings (i.e. companies, partnerships, cooperatives, sole-traders, voluntary organisations with an economic activity and any othwer business organisation) may submit applications under this scheme in accordance with 2 different state-aid rules - the DeMinimis* and GBER**. The grant calculations and related details for these 2 options are explained above.
Which undertakings should apply under the De Minimis Rules*? The DeMinimis rules set a threshold to the public funds that any single undertaking may receive as state aid, from any public entity in Malta, over a period of 3 years. The applicable threshold depends on the economic sector, as listed below:
- Agriculture: €20,000
- Fisheries and Aquaculture: €30,000;
- Road Freight Transport: €100,000;
- Any other sector: €200,000.
Applicant undertakings may apply under the DeMinimis State Aid Rules if:
- They have not yet received or applied for grants or other public funds to approach or exceed the applicable threshold; and
- The grant(s) for which they are applying will not cause them to exceed the applicable threshold.
More details information may be found on the DeMinimis State Aid Declaration VEH071.
Which undertakings should apply under GBER**? Undertakings that cannot apply for the grant under the De Minimis rules as they have exceeded the applicable tresholds or because the grant(s) being applied for will cause the thresholds to be exceeded, may apply for the same grant under GBER**. In this case no thresholds apply but the grant amounts are not fixed, as in the case of De Minimis*, but need to be calculated as explained in the previous section.
Applying for this Incentive
Applications submitted by by a person, voluntary organisation or business undertaking under the De Minimis State Aid Rules*
Applications shall be submitted either by the agent/dealer/supplier or by the purchaser after the new electric vehicles is registered by submitting application form VEH057A along with any information, details and documents required therein. The purchaser of the vehicle shall be considered as the ultimate applicant in terms of this scheme.
In the case of an application within the scope of the De Minimis State Aid rules , the State Aid Declaration VEH071.
Applications submitted by by a voluntary organisation or business undertaking under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)**
Applications shall be submitted either by the agent/dealer/supplier or by the purchaser after the new electric vehicles is ordered by submitting application form VEH057B along with the Financial Health Declaration VEH074 and any information, details and documents required therein. The purchaser of the vehicle shall be considered as the ultimate applicant in terms of this scheme.
General Information
In the case of new electric vehicle registered in 2022 for which no application for a grant was submitted, the new 2023 application form must be used.
A licensed dealer or car agent purchasing any of these vehicles for showroom and sales purposes may apply for the grant but on re-selling such vehicle, the buyer will not be eligible for any grant, including the used grant.
Applications under this scheme, together with all the relevant documents, shall be submitted by the applicant during working hours or mailed to Transport Malta’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Unit (DVLU). For opening hours and addresses refer here.
*Depending on the sector of activity of the applicant, the De Minimis rules stipulated in Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1407/2013, Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1408/2013 or Commission Regulation (EU) No. 717/2014 shall apply.
**Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty, as amended.
Page last updated: 31/01/2024
