The government is set to miss its target of installing more than 1,200 new public electric vehicle (EV) charging points across Malta and Gozo by the end of 2025, figures released to this newspaper show.
When the project was announced in 2022, the intention was to increase the number of such chargers from the then 340 to 1,572 in three years.
But, according to the Energy and Water Agency, at present "there are a total of 378 public charging points", excluding private installations which Energy Minister Miriam Dalli last January said amounted to a mere 16.
With less than four months to go till the end of the year, it is highly unlikely that the target set in 2022 will be met.
This mission to bolster EV charging infrastructure coincided with the government's long-term ambition for transport in Malta to become carbon-neutral by 2050. As detailed in Malta's National Electromobility Action Plan, this is aimed to be accomplished through the electrification of the transport sector. This was affirmed by Minister Dalli herself through an opinion piece she published with MaltaToday back in April 2022, in which she remarked that "the switch towards electric vehicles (EVs) will play a crucial role" in achieving overall carbon neutrality.
Project faced delays 'due to decisions aimed at strengthening and improving the overall project' - EWA
Answering questions, the Energy and Water Agency (EWA) told this newsroom that "the EV Charging Pillars project has faced delays due to decisions aimed at strengthening and improving the overall project".
The EWA said that this project has encountered delays during the public procurement process, "particularly in relation to the establishment of tender technical specifications". This led to the agency seeking the input of an external consultant "to ensure that such specifications and terms of operation reflect market developments".
The EWA said that "a number of new technical requirements on charging pillar infrastructure were introduced during the implementation lifetime of this project, namely through the AFIR Regulation (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulations)," such as "the new fast-charging pillars, which will have an integrated point of sale terminal, allowing ad hoc charging, a requirement of AFIR."
The EWA said the implementation of this project, that is, the setting up of more charging points/pillars, will be accelerating over the coming months, extending into 2026.
The EWA added that customers will be able to use "a single enhanced app" to use these charging pillars, including ones that may be supplied by different providers.
In spite of this project's missed deadlines, the EWA noted what it described as "significant progress" in 2025. Throughout this calendar year, the responsible Agency said it has worked on "the publication of tenders related to works and supplies for 820 charging points, submission of permits for roadworks on the locations of 500 charging points, as well as the completion of infrastructural works related to the installation of 124 charging points".
The EWA also told this newsroom that with the plans to diversify the country's energy supply mix, the pending introduction of the second interconnector, and the sustained investments to reinforce the country's electrical grid and distribution system, "the country is well prepared" to add this electrical infrastructure without disrupting the grid.
What does this mean for 2030 target to have 6,500+ EV charging points?
Unless the government defies all odds, 2025 will mark the second time that the government fails to abide by its own set targets to increase EV charging infrastructure. Once it gets past this hurdle, government authorities have Malta's 2030 target to think about: for Malta's EV charging infrastructure to comprise of at least 6,500 EV charging points.
The government had first pledged to significantly increase the stock of public charging infrastructure in October 2022 during that year's Budget (Budget 2023). It was announced that 1,200 EV charging points would be added to public infrastructure by the end of 2024. The government eventually amended this target and pushed this deadline for the end of 2025 after authorities failed to come close to what was envisioned by that point, making it all the more disappointing that the count of charging points doesn't seem to have eclipsed 500 so far, let alone the intended 1,572 in four months' time.
In its 2022 electoral manifesto, the Labour Party had pledged to "invest" in 1,200 charging points over the following three years; its wording did not commit the government to install 1,200 charging points by the end of this year.
In April 2022, Minister Dalli had written that "improving infrastructure to support EVs is just as important as getting customers to buy them", yet the government's inability to abide by its own set deadlines highlights great concern on its long-term commitment to the cause - especially its commitment towards its 2030 goal to bolster this infrastructure and its 2050 ambition to phase out internal combustion engines (ICE) off our roads.
In October 2024, Minister Dalli had reiterated the government's commitment to its aim of having 6,500 EV charging points across the Maltese islands by 2030, as per Malta's Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). The LCDS maps out Malta's decarbonisation journey till 2050.
In November 2024, Minister Dalli stated that the total count of EV charging points in Malta and Gozo stood at just 372 charging points. This data was released in response to a parliamentary question submitted by reinstated PL MP Rosianne Cutajar.
In May of this year, there were still just 408 charging points across Malta and Gozo, according to Minister Dalli herself, although it was not specified if this number included private installations. Parliament data shows that no new charging points were added around the country between 27 January and 12 May earlier this year. The disclosed number of EV charging points on both tail-end occasions of this four-month period was the same, at 408 EV charging points, highlighting stagnant results despite reality being so distant from intention and a renewed deadline looming nearer.
As it stands, the government must add over 6,000 EV charging points around the Maltese islands in just over four years if it is serious about reaching its 2030 target.
EVs growing more popular, still only comprise around 3% from Malta's total stock
The number of non-fossil-fuel-powered cars - that is, electric and plug-in hybrid engines - in the Maltese islands still only represents around 4% of all cars registered on Maltese roads, though the popularity of these greener vehicles has risen significantly in just the past three years and is trending to continue rising. Excluding plug-in hybrids, purely electric vehicles comprise just 3.2% of all registered vehicles in the country.
In Q1 2022, electric and plug-in hybrid engines comprised just 1.7% of the total stock of licensed motor vehicles, at just 7,122 total vehicles in the Maltese islands at the time. Fast-forward three years later and as of Q2 2025, this segment of vehicles has more than doubled and now represents 4.3% of all stock, equating to 19,493 vehicles from the grand total of 450,794 registered vehicles at present.
The number of purely electric vehicles across the Maltese islands grew by 6% between the first two quarters of 2025 - up to a total of 14,555 electric vehicles. In contrast, during this same timeframe, the number of petrol vehicles increased by just 0.7% (around 1,834 cars) while the number of diesel-powered vehicles decreased by 0.1% (approximately 156 cars).
As of Q2 2025, there are 262,047 petrol-powered vehicles and 155,846 diesel-powered vehicles across the country. Collectively, these vehicle categories represent 92.7% of all registered vehicles.
The growing total of electric cars and plug-in hybrids signifies an increasing need for EV charging infrastructure to grow alongside these vehicles' increasing demand. While drivers of fossil-fuel-powered cars simply go to a petrol station to fill up their car's tank, EV owners must charge their cars at either one of these public EV charging points or inside a privately-owned garage. At the moment, there is one public EV charging point per 46 cars across the Maltese islands; the strain for an EV owner to locate a spot to charge their car, if they don't own a garage (which have grown tremendously in price over recent years), is set to increase significantly until government targets are prioritised, fulfilled, and updated for future needs.
In addition, the government aims to electrify its entire fleet of vehicles by 2030, according to Malta's Low Carbon Development Strategy. If over the coming years supporting infrastructure still lags behind envisioned targets, in spite of the EWA's ongoing works, then questions may arise on the sensibility of this electrification process.