GoTo was launched at the beginning of November 2018 after winning a public tender issued by Transport Malta seeking a car-sharing service provider to reduce dependency on owning cars in the island nation. The Israeli firm has ten years of car-sharing experience and uses its in-house technology that they also provide to other companies.

“The principle is that instead of owning a car, multiple people can use the same car through different times of the day. Therefore the number of cars on the roads and in parking places can be reduced,” Ms Jasenaite says. GoTo’s car-sharing concept comes on time, as roads in Malta have seen an increasing grade of congestion.

For the time being, Malta is the only country in the world where GoTo operates by only using electric vehicles. GoTo uses its own infrastructure; they have built the charging stations they use, and they see further expansion in this regard.

“We brought the service of car-sharing to Malta, and we are also building electric charging stations. Our goal is to build a total of 225 charging stations. Currently, we have 450 designated parking spots in Malta, but not all of them have charging stations, as we have 60 chargers, for now. Our goal is to add charging stations to all our parking spots,” the commercial chief says.

The charging stations and parking spots are exclusive to GoTo cars at the moment; however, the company is planning to open up their parking spots and charging stations for the public once they reached their 225 charger goal.

Gradually growing market

At the moment the firm is trying to understand the demand of the Maltese market before they would start planning expansion. GoTo Malta records 460 one-way trips per day on average, numbers upping to an average 600 per day on Fridays and Saturdays. As the service is growing in user numbers, and fuelled by this increasing demand, GoTo Malta can easily imagine growing further. “If we are going with the same level of growth, we will be introducing new cars,” Ms Jasenaite says.

In terms of car usage, the most popular area for car-sharing is the Great Northern Harbour. There are multiple reasons for this tendency, but one of the major drivers is that the area is the most active from an economic perspective, and it is where most of the expats live.

“There are three main groups of our customers. The first is expats who live in Malta for a few years only, who do not intend to buy own cars. The second group comprise of environmentally-conscious people who opt for our service in making efforts for protecting the environment. The third group of people uses our services for easier parking, especially in the heavily congested areas, using our designated parking spots. They might own cars, but it is much easier to drive into the busiest towns knowing that they will surely have parking spots,” the chief says.

Another exciting characteristic of GoTo users is that they are not exclusive to car-sharing; instead, they would use all other means of transportation. “What we see is that our customers usually are not exclusive to car sharing; they use several other forms like public transport, riding taxis, walking, riding bikes or driving their own cars,” Ms Jasenaite says.

Looking into the future, she believes once people realise how comfortable electric vehicles are, the shift toward EV will happen swiftly. “The Renault ZOEs that we use can go close to 270 kilometres with one two-and-half-hour charging stop,” she points out, adding that the charging costs are also lower than paying for fuel.

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“Seeing the news about the plans of the Maltese government once again shows the importance of electromobility [eMobility] and its demand in the markets,” Porsche AG tells Business Malta when asked how they feel about Malta’s recent EV buzz.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced during the first eMobility Summit in Malta that the government nurtures unique plans for getting rid of traditional cars in the future. The prime minister mentioned the possibility of running a pilot on the sister island Gozo, turning it into a completely electric vehicle zone, and trying to replicate the project in Malta to set an example for countries worldwide.

For Porsche, electrification and hybridisation play an essential role in the product portfolio, and they systematically expand their offering in this field, BM learns from the car manufacturer. “If the markets continue to develop as they have been doing, then up to 50% of the entire Porsche product range could be available as electric or partly electric petrol hybrids by 2025,” the manufacturer says about its global plans.

Hybrid models already account for over 60% of vehicles from the Panamera range sold in Europe, while the first fully-electric sports car — the Taycan — will roll out onto the markets at the end of 2019, possibly reaching Malta by 2020. This would be followed by its first derivative: the Taycan Cross Turismo, Porsche AG says.

“By 2022 we will have invested more than €6bn in electromobility, focusing on both plug-in hybrids and purely electric vehicles. Once again a clear signal that we will continue pursuing this technology,” Porsche tells the BM when looking into their near future.

The cover image shows the Mission E concept car; the starting point of the first fully-electric sports car Porsche Taycan, which will be available in Malta in 2020. (source: Porsche AG Media)

The post Porsche aligns with Malta’s electric vehicle vision first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“The future of mobility is stimulating,” MEP Ms Dalli said, emphasising it must rely on ecological and environmental sustainability. “This is a new era; globalisation and climate change necessitate traditional economic models to change for more sustainable ones,” Ms Dalli underlined.

She said that climate change is one of the significant challenges that we are facing and if no action is taken severe consequences might be sparked in economic and political stability. “Industry 4.0 is about digitisation, but it should also take a look at the ecological aspects and sustainability … Mobility and transport will be in the focus of the fourth industrial revolution.

The MEP said that the upcoming years will need to be about turning to zero- and low-emission mobility and that the regulatory framework needs to follow these efforts. She added that for such progress, a mix of EU and national legislation could be beneficial.

“We need a culture and mentality shift” in this regard, Ms Dalli said. She added believes industry players now understand the technologies that are needed to meet the EU’s targets related to lowering CO2 emissions.

She also said that cleaner energy and mobility pilots are needed, for which Gozo could be a “testbed”, further confirming PM Joseph Muscat’s announcement of considering Gozo as a location of carrying out a zero-emission zone pilot.

eMobility to revolutionise transportation

Transport plays a significant role in every society, and transportation has arrived at a crossroads, Jose A. Herrera, Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, said taking the podium after Ms Dalli. Mr Herrera said he believes eMobility will revolutionise how we think about transportation and working as well.

He mentioned that Maltese private individuals are highly dependent on cars, which has dire implications on the environment as well as on people. “We are striving for a cleaner environment,” minister Herrera said, adding that considering the future of infrastructure in Malta, commitment to electric vehicles is indispensable.

“We owe it to our future generations, and it is our duty to offer a better life in the near future,” the environment minister said. He said everybody needs to team up to discuss what can be done for a better future, including policymakers, authorities, manufacturers and market players.

“If we know our systems are failing our environment we need the courage to change,” he concluded.

The post Maltese gov’t promises to push pedal to metal on eMobility first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The first international eMobilty summit could not have come at a better time, according to the prime minister. Malta has experienced unprecedented economic growth in the past six years; the landscape is transforming, so are businesses, which at the end of the day are changing the country, Mr Muscat said.

“We are facing challenges stemming from the progress that we see as opportunities … We are here to discuss these opportunities … We do not shy away from challenges,” Mr Muscat said addressing the auditorium of market players and industry professionals.

He mentioned that two years ago the government started working on a total revamp of the local road infrastructure as part of a €700m project. He added that in the past six years, nationwide emissions have been reduced by 50% due to the changes the government started.

Mr Muscat also voiced certainty that the tunnel between Gozo and Malta will be built, and the government is making efforts to provide free public transport for people passing through the tunnel. At the same time, the Maltese government is planning to launch a pilot on Gozo, trying to turn the sister island into a zero-emission zone.

After turning Gozo into a zero-emission zone, the government would like to replicate this pilot in Malta, which Mr Muscat hopes will serve as a pilot for the whole European Union and the world for introducing electric vehicles in a country, going completely free of CO2 emissions. The prime minister, therefore, appeared to be an advocate of a “nation-wide changeover”.

He acknowledged that the country is heavily-reliant on cars; hence actions are needed to be taken with urgency, to put a stop to pollution. The government has commissioned PwC Malta to carry out a study to see how the changeover can be carried out in the archipelago. Mr Muscat said this study should be published in the upcoming weeks.

Questions that need to be answered comprise of the affordability of electric vehicles, whether a government can restrict the import and purchase of non-electric vehicles, whether the government can incentivise the import and purchase of electric cars and whether the national power grid is ready for an influx of electric vehicles. “People should be able to charge electric cars at home with sensible fees,” Mr Muscat said.

“There are barriers, but innovation should be the key to break down such barriers … We want to be trendsetters in Europe and the world in how we live and work; transport is one key factor,” the prime minister said referring to the government’s commitment to electric mobility.

He once again reiterated that this has to be done accompanied by — if not mixed with — the country’s efforts in being at the forefront of the blockchain, artificial intelligence and other disruptive developments. “We want to see how we can synergise these sectors with eMobility,” Mr Muscat concluded.

The post Malta vows to become flag-bearer in eMobility first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.