Mark J. Galea
EVs are the automotive equivalent of curved-screen TVs: a temporary fad that would soon be replaced by the ‘real’ future: hydrogen.
This is how I would have started this article a couple of years ago, as it’s what I genuinely believed based on the information I was fed. But as a tech enthusiast who is always researching the latest developments, I grew to learn otherwise.
My recent experience in Sicily compelled me to share this, but I only ask one thing: park your perceptions before you proceed, and then make up your own mind.
During this trip, I realised that my friends, like so many others, had never actually sat in an EV. Through our various conversations, it became abundantly clear that these cars are misrepresented. They’re usually pigeonholed as just “the green alternative” when, in actual fact, there’s so much more to the EV experience. But people don’t get to read about this. The only time most people hear about them is the odd report of a fire.
I decided to share why I actually bought one and how much I’m enjoying the perks as an owner.
The Sicily performance test
I recently took my new EV to Sicily for a spin to fully experience its power. You only truly get to enjoy a 523 bhp powerhouse with a 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds on the open highway.
Despite carrying four adults for around 250km daily, we never experienced a hint of range anxiety. In fact, waking up to a full charge every morning felt like a luxury no fuel station could ever offer.
Better still, I did not spend a cent on fuel for a trip of over 1,250km. While we enjoyed our evenings, the car was connected to a free charger at our resort. The 91.3kWh battery was always ready with 500km of range by morning, meaning that over the entire trip, I never once had to stop to recharge. But there’s more: with petrol prices in Italy as they are, I saved an average of €200, essentially letting the car subsidise 50% of our room bill.
The practical reality
For four adults on a five-day winter trip, storage usually becomes a puzzle. We found that the frunk (front trunk) was actually useful, easily swallowing a large duffle bag and freeing up the main boot for heavier luggage.
As foodies on a ‘farm-to-fork’ tour of independent producers, a powered cooler was essential. Because of the flat floor, it sat neatly between the rear passengers without ruining their comfort. In an ICE car, that central “hump” would have made this impossible.
The shift from scepticism
Hydrogen remains a distant dream, while EVs are evolving at a rate that internal combustion engine (ICE) cars cannot match.
Modern battery tech, specifically LFP and sodium-ion, is remarkably stable and carries a much lower fire risk. In fact, battery technology is now so advanced that the pack will undoubtedly outlive the car’s body. Many manufacturers are so confident that this is in fact the case that they are now integrating the battery pack directly into the chassis as a structural part.
Clean air, better performance
When you inhale exhaust, you are risking carbon monoxide poisoning. With an EV, you could literally sit in your garage for days with the car running and nothing would happen. This is completely irrelevant to global emission targets; it’s about the immediate air we breathe on our streets.
Our air pollution is declining for the first time in years. Is that a coincidence, or are we finally seeing the impact of the EV transition?
And if you believe EVs are only for those who don’t appreciate cars, listen to Ford’s CEO Jim Farley, a self-confessed “lifelong petrol-head”. He wrote a LinkedIn post expressing how he fell in love with the “silly grin” sparked by effortless acceleration and an astonishingly quiet ride. He is spot on; the joy of instant torque is in a league of its own.
Designed for Malta
EVs seem tailor-made for Malta. Our temperatures and short distances are ideal for batteries. Meanwhile, our stop-start traffic is a slow death for internal combustion. Low speeds and constant idling prevent DPF filters in diesel cars from clearing, leading to engine damage and expensive garage visits – a mechanical failure that is physically impossible in an EV.
Additionally, while some modern petrol cars now offer pre-cooling via an app, they can only do it by leaving the engine running. Leaving a vehicle idling unattended is a surefire way to have a theft claim rejected by your insurance; it is also illegal because it pumps toxic fumes into the street while the car sits stationary.
An EV, however, pre-cools securely and legally without needing to start the engine or poison the air around it. Add the convenience of one-pedal driving for our nightmare traffic and the ability to run your appliances during a power cut. These clearly make the ‘tried and tested’ way just a costly, outdated burden.
The financial no-brainer
EVs are roughly 70-80% cheaper to run than petrol cars. For every €10 spent on fuel, an equivalent EV journey costs about €2 in electricity. If you have PV panels, you effectively drive for free. Even without them, you slash your bill by at least 50%.
“Our temperatures and short distances are ideal for batteries”
The government incentives are yet another no-brainer to buy an EV. How wise is it to miss out on a grant of up to €8,000, a 100% registration tax exemption and a scrappage bonus of up to €1,000? Furthermore, you pay €0 road tax for the first five years, followed by a flat €10 yearly thereafter.
The efficiency gap
And what about the sheer energy waste? An EV converts up to 90% of its energy into movement; a petrol engine is a complete disaster, turning a measly 20% to 30% of your fuel into motion. The rest is lost as heat and noise. Even the “efficient” diesel only manages 45%. If you’re happy to keep literally burning your hard-earned money, suit yourself. I’m sure that the oil companies will greatly appreciate your generosity.
Maintenance, safety and the guardians of the piston
With no engine to fail, EVs are practically maintenance-free. While many ICE cars have known design flaws that can ruin an engine before it even hits 100,000km, the only real wear you face with an EV is on the tyres. This is obviously terrible news for the oil industry, parts manufacturers and mechanics, which is likely the real reason we see such incessant global campaigns against electric cars.
Safety is also superior; the low centre of gravity makes them much less likely to topple over. We have seen several cars flip on Maltese roads lately. Tellingly, they were all ICE vehicles. Perhaps we should start a trend asking if a car was ICE when we see a report of a toppled vehicle, the same way the self-styled ‘guardians of the piston’ ask if it was an EV every time there is a report of a vehicle fire.
If a fire does occur, it’s big news, simply because it’s so rare. Yet, we’ve become so desensitised to petrol cars bursting into flames that it rarely makes the headlines.
A simple Google search will tell you that statistics “indicate that ICE vehicles are roughly 20 to 60 times more likely to catch fire than EVs”.
Additionally, thanks to Over-The-Air (OTA) updates, your EV keeps improving. After, say, five years, software updates mean you are practically driving a different, better vehicle than the one you bought.
So, this brings us to the obvious question: why is there such a relentless, coordinated campaign to tell you that these cars are a failure? No other technology is targeted by such a blatant, overt agenda.
The truth is simple: an engine that doesn’t break, doesn’t need oil and can be “refuelled” by the sun is an existential threat to the world’s most powerful industries. They pitch it as though they’re trying to save you from a bad car when, in actual fact, they’re trying to save themselves from a bad balance sheet.
A final thought
Behavioural economist Rory Sutherland argues that if EVs had always been the standard, the “new” petrol engine would be viewed as an absurd invention. Imagine someone proposing a machine with hundreds of moving parts, powered by a flammable liquid that explodes inside a metal box. A fuel you cannot even refill at home. It would be laughed off as an inconvenient step backwards.
We have the sun, the short distance and the financial incentives. When you factor that in, and that government grants can bring the price of a brand-new EV down to almost €10,000, it becomes a complete no-brainer. That is cheaper than many second-hand imports, which are essentially other markets’ rejects.
If you are still clinging to your fuel tank, ask yourself: are you sticking with the “tried and tested” because it is actually better, or are you just paying a massive premium to stay in the past?
Mark J. Galea is the managing director of Quad Consultancy, an HR management consultancy firm specialising in people management, strategy, learning and development and recruitment. Before setting up Quad Consultancy in 2010, he spent the previous 15 years heading the HR teams within a number of leading Maltese and international companies.
