Government to lease 20 electric cars

The government has issued a tender for the lease of 20 electric cars to be used by government officials, messengers and other civil servants.

The electric cars will replace conventional fuel-operated vehicles.

The parliamentary secretary responsible for the environment, George Pullicino, said the decision had been taken by cabinet in recent days.

The government, he said, had decided to lead by example.

"I am delighted that cabinet has decided to go for this initiative. It is a start aimed at promoting the use of electric cars that are much more environmental friendly, very simple to use and also cost effective. I hope that in the future we will decide to make more use of electric cars."

Mr Pullicino said he was sure that people would be tempted to use electric cars once they saw them on the streets.

"There are already a number of suppliers on the local market and I'm sure that we will have more suppliers if the idea proves popular."

Mr Pullicino said the government tender was expected to be issued next month.

"We are working on the document, which will be issued over the coming weeks. We are determined to do our utmost to promote a culture which is more environment friendly."

In the last budget the government reduced registration tax on electric cars in order to promote their use, and in the past months there has been a lot of media coverage about this type of car.

A local firm, assisted by an engineer and a scientist, has been testing a number of electric cars on the roads, with the aim of launching them on the market in the coming months.

Dr Joseph Cilia, the head of department of electrical power and control at the University of Malta, recently said he believed people would be tempted to buy them because of their low maintenance and running costs as well as a significant drop in traffic-related pollution.

Dr Cilia outlined the basic differences between a conventional car and an electric car.

"A battery-powered vehicle has a number of features which are rather different from those of the conventional car. The usual engine-fossil fuel combination is replaced by an electric motor-battery set-up. Fossil fuels (petrol, diesel) pack large amounts of energy in a litre - which weighs less than a kilogramme.

"Batteries, on the other hand, carry much less energy for much more weight. However, to even out things, the internal combustion engine delivers only some 20 per cent of the energy in the fuel to the driving wheels; the rest goes out of the exhaust. A good electric motor will transfer over 70 per cent of energy taken from the battery to the drive wheels."