Motor fanatics don’t like ban on fuel engines

Car enthusiasts from the Malta Automobile Club are launching a petition against government proposals contained in a ‘green paper’ that wants to ban the importation of internal combustion engined vehicles, heralding a new era of electric vehicles.

MAC spokesperson Alfred Farrugia said consumers should have the right to purchase the vehicle of their choice without interference from the government.

“The incentives offered to consumers who have an interest in purchasing an electric vehicle are discriminatory,” Farrugia claimed, and insisted the government cannot have a mandate to enforce a future policy when it will no longer be in power.

“As long as internal combustion engined vehicles continue to be manufactured, residents of Malta and Gozo should have the right to purchase, own and drive such vehicles, without any interference from the government,” Farrugia said.

The MAC insists the government should be promoting the importation of ethanol and ethanol-blended fuels.

“The Malta Automobile Club maintains that electric vehicles are not the future, but part of it. This has been claimed by ePure, the unified voice of the European renewable ethanol industry,” Farrugia said.