The demand for environmentally friendly transportation around the world has compelled major automakers to build more electric cars (EVs) than ever before, giving rise to the “electric-car boom.” Due to its capacity to enhance air quality while reducing carbon emissions, electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular every day.
Pakistan’s future with electric vehicles
Electric vehicles don’t use traditional fuel, which, when consumed in gasoline and diesel vehicles, causes air pollution. Instead, they generate electricity through batteries. Electric car sales have grown during the past several hours, signaling a global growth in the use of electric vehicles.
Although the 2016 new automobile policy permits foreign electric car manufacturers to introduce their vehicles in Pakistan, the future of electric automobiles in Pakistan does not seem hopeful because of inadequate infrastructure and a lack of consumer awareness.
It is more economical and less expensive. Due to their less expensive operating costs, electric two-wheelers may be preferable to gasoline-powered ones.
In each state, there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions from hybrid or electric vehicle use on the grid than from gasoline-powered vehicles. Electricity is generally cleaner and less expensive when used as a fuel for vehicles, even when it comes from the dirtiest grid, making electric vehicles more effective at converting energy to power automobiles and trucks.
You don’t need any fuel, saving you money on gas. It costs $0.10 per kW, which is equivalent to less than $1 per gallon of gasoline, and they are environmentally good because they don’t emit any pollutants. An effective electric motor results in less maintenance and better performance.
With targets and incentives aimed at seeing electric vehicles capture 30% of all passenger vehicle and heavy-duty truck sales by 2030 and 90% by 2040, Pakistan’s National Electric Vehicles Policy (NEVP) was approved in November. For two- and three-wheelers as well as buses, it gets even more aggressive targets, calling for 50% of new sales by 2030 and 90% by 2040.
The EV program can revitalize Pakistan’s economy in addition to advancing its climate goals and addressing the hazardous air pollution issue in the cities.
An infant electric vehicle industry currently exists in Pakistan. The Pakistan Electric Vehicles Manufacturing Association (PEVMA), which was recently formed by the five indigenous electric car producers, has been investing heavily in the market and frequently teams up with well-known international automakers.
The Climate Change Act of 2016 and Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997 both establish Pakistan’s objectives for climate action and the improvement of air quality, and the NEVP constitutes a step toward achieving those objectives. Naturally, transportation contributes significantly to climate change, accounting for approximately 24% of all direct CO2 emissions from fuel-burning worldwide. According to German watch’s Long-Term Climate Risk Index, which measures how much a country has been impacted by weather-related loss events, Pakistan is ranked eighth. According to experts, the country’s ability to maintain current levels of agricultural and livestock production, increase the vulnerability of energy production from hydropower plants, and affect the availability of fresh drinking water to major urban areas could all be threatened by rising temperatures and erratic rainfall.
The NEVP takes place at a time when Lahore’s deteriorating air quality has forced it to occasionally surpass New Delhi as the most polluted city in the world. Three school closings in November 2019 alone were due to the city’s heavy autumn smog, which poses a serious health risk. These patterns are not exclusive to Lahore either. On lists of the world’s most polluted cities, Karachi, Faisalabad, and Peshawar frequently rank at the top alongside significant Chinese and Indian cities.
EVs are known for their advantages in terms of energy efficiency and pollution. They are compatible with renewable energy sources, don’t emit any pollutants at the vehicle’s exhaust pipe, have lower lifecycle (“well to wheel”) emissions, and can significantly cut or even eliminate Pakistan’s $13 billion per year oil import expense. As Pakistan transitions from importing fossil fuels and automobiles to domestically produced electric vehicles powered by domestically produced electricity, the government appears to be wagering that this would promote economic development and help it stay up with its neighbors and rivals.
Pakistan’s efforts to achieve its EV targets will be successful or unsuccessful depending on how well the relevant ministries coordinate the incentive scheme and whether Pakistan can overcome other obstacles related to model availability, infrastructure, and customer comprehension. Also essential is a dependable power source. Brownouts and blackouts are frequently seen in Pakistan’s electric power industry because of their well-known volatility. The government anticipates surplus generation capacity in the upcoming ten years and is currently working on several power projects. That surplus might be used by a developing EV industry and market.
By conserving valuable foreign currency, generating tens of thousands of employees, and facilitating the expansion of allied businesses through knowledge transfers, the EV sector has the potential to make a large economic contribution. EVs can also considerably cut the expenditures associated with pollution-related health issues, as well as aid to enhance urban air quality and minimize noise pollution.
No matter how electric vehicles are compared to conventional ones, they will not be as popular in Pakistan unless the country’s power disruptions are reduced and the government creates a long-term air quality plan. New projects focusing on Chinese firms producing electric vehicles in Pakistan have been made public by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), although they won’t likely be finished for another four to five years or even longer.
There is a good chance that Pakistan may start to modify its regulations to increase the scope of prospects in the electric car industry, especially since electric outages are predicted to decline in the coming years as a result of CPEC’s energy-based projects.
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