The reasons why Dubai is one of the leaders in electric car applications

The trend of global electric car sales from 2019-2020 has increased by 43% compared to 2019. In 2020, global sales of electric cars reached USD3.24 million. Of this total, 69% were sales of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and 31% were Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). Meanwhile, on the one hand, global sales of cars other than electric cars have decreased by 14 percent during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several market participants said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, electric car sales were predicted to increase by 25 percent by 2030.

In addition, sales of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) will decrease. For pure electric vehicles (battery electric vehicles (BEV) in 2030, sales will increase by 81% or reach 25.3 million vehicles from the total electric vehicles sold. This will help reduce emissions levels that are still high today both in the world and in the United States in particular. Several countries, such as Norway, Germany, Britain, India, and France, have started to make regulations limiting the use of ICE-based vehicles.

Globally, the potential of the electric car market in many countries is very large, related to the global use of electricity which tends to increase from year to year. Portable Chargers on electric cars can be used at 3,500 VA (volt amperes) and above. Meanwhile, the average global household consumption is in the range of 3,500-5,500 VA.

This is a huge market for many electric car manufacturers, mostly dominated by Chinese companies. Of course, electric car ownership must be supported through policies from the government, a positive mindset in the community, and the contribution of batteries and infrastructure facilities. This is why Dubai is one of the leaders in the application of electric cars in the world, especially in the Middle East region. Car insurance in UAE is one of the topics that is currently popular, along with the increasing population of electric cars there.

Despite incentives from the Dubai government to encourage the purchase of electric cars, they are currently only purchased by public bodies and the wealthiest citizens, due to the low cost of ownership of combustion vehicles and the limited supply and availability of electric cars. 

Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, is known for its oil and therefore as the country of cheap gasoline and large sports cars, since consumption is not exactly the biggest concern of their owners. However, since the 1980s, domestic politics has focused on the search for economic alternatives to generate income and avoid direct dependence on oil. In this sense, Dubai has ambitious goals in relation to electric cars, for which it offers advantages when driving, parking or recharging its batteries.

The owners of an electric car in Dubai have free parking in public car parks, tolls on motorways and even energy in the 200 charging stations that the government installed in the country’s capital.

The cost of ownership of a combustion vehicle in the UAE is not particularly prohibitive. Quite the contrary. Thanks to the fact that the price of gasoline is one of the most affordable in the world. Filling a 60-liter tank costs approximately 36 dollars, much less than those that it costs in the United States, approximately 44 dollars or in Norway, where filling that same tank costs 110 dollars, one of the reasons why electric car park has been soared far above the rest of the world’s markets.

Roads in Dubai are generally expressways that can reach up to 16 lanes.

According to reports from Autodata Middle East, which provides data and assessments on the local industry, “unless the buyer really cares about the environment, there are not many incentives.” Roads in Dubai are generally expressways stretching to 16 lanes in some cases, which can be a bit intimidating. That’s one of the reasons why “bigger vehicles are being opted for here,” according to Karim El-Jisr, executive director of the SEE Nexus Institute, which advises cities on sustainable development. A premium car in Dubai costs half as much as in Norway, so there is no economic reason to buy an electric car. 

The reality of electric mobility Dubai

Today, more than 5,000 hybrid and electric vehicles are circulating in Dubai. Less than 1,000 of them are one hundred percent electric. The unambitious target for 2030 is for 10% of all new vehicles sold to be fully electric. The biggest buyer of electric vehicles is the government, which shows that the private driver does not have much interest in them. In addition, the few electric cars that circulate on its highways are high-end, generally from Tesla. When Renault began selling the Zoe five years ago, its first customer was the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, followed by the Police and other government and public utility agencies.

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