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'E-cars must be sold at lower prices to create mass market'
Dubai - On Sunday, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced a slew of incentives for electric cars owners.
Talking to Khaleej Times at the Electric Vehicles UAE Conference on Tuesday, Akin Adamson, former regional director of UK-based Transport Research Laboratory and current chairperson of the EV conference, said: "the biggest barrier to this shift is that EVs are much more expensive than petrol or diesel cars."
Adamson said the infrastructure like charging stations in Dubai is not a problem. "Actually, there are now more charging stations in Dubai than EVs on the road. The limiting factor is still the people's willingness to purchase these e-vehicles."
Adamson said in some countries, like UK, subsidies are provided by the government but they are still not enough to sway people in ditching their conventional cars.
He said in UK, prospective EV buyers are given £5,000 but the cost of a Tesla is around £60,000 pounds; after the subsidy, £55,000 is still a hefty amount. Meanwhile, the cheapest e-car in the market, Nissan Leaf, is around £21,000; minus £5,000 subsidy, the remaining £16,0000 is still higher than a petrol sedan which is only £11,000.
He said EVs must be sold at a lower price to create a mass market. When asked if a subsidy is also needed in Dubai to achieve its target of having 32,000 electric and hybrid cars on the road by 2020 and 42,000 by 2030, Adamson said subsidy is not required to reach these goals. "But if Dubai wants to be more aggressive, it can follow the model used by Norway (see box story) which has been giving higher subsidy and incentives to own EVs," he added.
On Sunday, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced a slew of incentives for electric cars owners, including free car charging until 2019, free designated green parking in Dubai, free electric vehicle registration and renewal fees, free Salik tag and a special licence plate sticker identifying the vehicle as an electric car. Dubai is also working on installing additional 100 charging stations to bring the number up to 200 by 2018.
"The Dubai government is doing a fantastic job in creating the right conditions for electric vehicles owners to enjoy driving in the UAE," said Ben Pullen, co-founder and managing director of Global EVRT, who is organising a nine-day inter-emirate EV road trip in January next year.
"There are many public charging stations and DEWA and RTA have introduced attractive incentives. The main challenge for all of us working in the electric vehicle industry is to raise awareness about electric vehicles and the numerous benefits they have. From our experience, we know that once a driver tries an electric vehicle they are convinced they want to buy or rent one. The acceleration, comfort, and ease of use are exquisite," he told Khaleej Times.
angel@khaleejtimes.com
Portvik said EVs must be cheap to buy (no purchasing tax, no VAT); cheap to use (free parking, free electricity, free passing in tool gates)?and convenient to use (easy access to charging).
He noted that the shift to EVs has resulted in high taxes on fossil fuel cars, including 25 per cent value-added tax and one-time registration fee (calculated on the basis of the weight of the vehicle, engine size and carbon emissions. Whereas electric vehicles have no taxes or fees - equivalent to at least 10,000 Euros.
Portvik said in Sweden, which has no tax cuts for EVs, the cost of a Volkswagen Golf (petrol) is 21,000 Euros cheaper than its VW E-Golf counterpart which is around 41,200 Euros. But in Norway, a VW E Golf is just 28,000 Euros.
Tax cuts have also resulted in price of Tesla S Model to go for only 63,000 Euros in Norway as compared to a super car like Camaro which is priced at 172,000 Euros.
Other incentives in Norway for e-cars:
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