The world is far from being able to ditch fossil fuel cars in favour of electric ones, with no capacity to churn out 100 million battery packs a year, the former CEO of Aston Martin told the Times of Malta.

“There are 80-100 million cars built every year. By 2030, 30 per cent of the cars will be electric but these will still only be 20-30 million cars,” Ulrich Bez said.

“There is not enough electric power or enough charging stations, while the production of batteries and cars is also generating carbon dioxide. We need to look at various options like hydrogen and ethanol, these are alternative emission-free technologies which need to be looked at.”

Asked about the traffic situation in Malta, he said that he had not really been in the country long enough to come up with solutions but did say that there is usually not one solution but many little ones.

However, he was clear on one point: that space pollution was more of a problem than emissions pollution.

“Bigger cars are taking up more and more public space. You could see this as a crime against society… At least in city centres and metropolitan areas, cars should be smaller,” he said.

Mr Bez said that phasing out all combustion engines and replacing them with electric cars could work for a city like Valletta, but not a whole country.

The German businessman stepped down from Aston Martin at the end of 2013. Under his leadership, Aston Martin became a profitable and globally-recognised luxury brand, selling more than 60,000 cars in 14 years – more than three times the number sold from 1913 to 2000.

Mr Bez will be addressing the Zest conference at the Golden Sands Hotel on Tuesday at 9am

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