Ulrich Bez, the famous former CEO of Aston Martin, has dismissed suggestions Malta could completely ditch fuel-based cars in favour of electric vehicles in the near future.

“Electric cars could be a good idea for Valletta, but not for the whole of Malta,” he said.. “We don’t have enough electric power or electric charging stations, while the production of these cars also generates carbon dioxide,” he told the Times of Malta in a recent interview. “We need to start looking at ethanol and hydrogen fuel cell cars as alternatives.”

Bez was speaking in his own personal capacity and was not representing Aston Martin.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has recently pledged to introduce a cut-off date for the purchase of all petrol and diesel vehicles – following in the footsteps of the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

Bez, nicknamed ‘Mr Aston Martin’ for having temporarily turned the classic car company into a profitable one, was recently in Malta to discuss the island’s notorious transport and traffic problems.

Although he warned there is no single solution to traffic, he did offer one proposal to the country’s lawmakers… to ban large vehicles from city centres.

“The way I see it, space pollution is a larger problem than air emissions pollution,” Bez said. “Cars are getting bigger and bigger and are eating up public space, which is a crime to society. That would be one of the points I would address first – making sure cars are smaller, at least in the city centre.”

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