Malta wants to switch to electric vehicles: PM

VALLETTA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Malta wants to be amongst the first European Union (EU) countries to switch to electric vehicles, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced on Friday.

A study on the transition from internal combustion to fully electric cars, commissioned by an inter-ministerial committee on electric vehicles, will be completed "in the coming weeks", said Muscat.

Addressing policy makers and car industry leaders at an E-Mobility Summit held on the Mediterranean island, Muscat said: "We are ready for proposals on how we can make Malta one of the first EU states which has cars running on clean energy. This will create a unique testing bed for all those at this summit, especially service providers."

"There are barriers but innovation should hold the key to overcoming them," Muscat noted, adding "We want to be trend-setters in Europe and in the world, changing the way we live and work."

Malta could serve as a pilot project to move to zero-emission vehicles, he said.