Electric vehicles They are a common view on the roads around the world – but not everywhere. In Saudi Arabiaelectric vehicles (VES) represent just over 1% of total car sales, according to the “Emobility Outlook 2024: KSA Edition” report from PriceWaterhousecoopers (PWC), published September 2024.
Globally, about 18% of all cars sold by 2023 were electric, according to the International Energy Agency.
There are several obstacles to the implementation of cleaner cars in the desert kingdom, but things are changing quickly.
A Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company (EVIQ) It is at the forefront of this transformation. EVEQ was founded in late 2023 as a joint venture among the country’s sovereign background – Public Investment Fund (PIF) – and Saudi Electricity Company.
By the end of 2023, there were about 285 public loading points in the country, according to the PWC report, especially slow porters.
In January 2024, EVEQ inaugurated its first fast loading station in the country’s capital, Riyadh. Until 2030, it plans to have 5,000 quick porters installed in 1,000 locations.
“Very few people are willing to buy an electric vehicle without the comfort of seeing the infrastructure available,” CNN Mohammad Gazzaz, CEO of Eviq. “We are paving the way.”
Today, Ves are mainly bought by people who “can carry at home with their private walls,” said Heiko Seitz, global Eastern East Emobility leader and author of the Emobility report.
Lack of loading stations is not the only reason for the slow adoption of ves in Saudi Arabia. By 2024, more than 60% of available models cost more than $ 65,000, according to the PWC report, while nearly 73% of gasoline models cost less than that.
Generous fuel subsidies mean that a liter of gasoline currently costs Saudi drivers about 60 cents.
Ves batteries may have difficulties with the typical temperatures of a Saudi summer, and the additional energy needed to cool them can significantly impact their loading speed and autonomy.
And the country is vast – just over a fifth of the size of the US – with the distance between its two largest cities over 950 kilometers, larger than the average autonomy of most Ves.
But the country has ambitious plans to reduce its dependence on oil recipes and their carbon emissions. Oil represented 60% of government revenue by 2024, with gross oil and natural gas accounting for more than 20% of the country’s GDP in the same period.
The country wants 30% of cars in its Riad capital to be electric until 2030. But Saudi Arabia is not just adopting Ves, it is “building an entire industrial ecosystem” around it, Seitz said.
The country is embracing “Emobility as a strategic lever to decarbonize, diversify its economy and locate scale manufacturing.”
This includes plans for becoming a vesed pole. The PIF is the largest shareholder of the American automaker Lucid, who in 2023 opened the first car factory in the country.
Ceer, a joint venture between PIF and Taiwanese company Foxconn, plans to launch its first VE produced in Saudi Arabia by 2026. And a joint venture between PIF and Hyundai began building a factory in the country.
Large producers are now selling in the country. Chinese Byd opened its first dealership in May 2024, and in April, Tesla began operations in Saudi Arabia.
Seitz said the introduction of Chinese models will probably help reduce prices. Byd Saudi website lists its Atto 3 model with a starting price of approximately $ 27,000.
More than 40% of Saudi consumers are considering buying an EV over the next three years, according to PWC.
Currently, there are avo loaders in Riyadh and Jeddah. In April, the company inaugurated its first LV loading station on a highway. “It’s still really a key job,” said Gazzaz.
He said that EVEQ targets 50 to 60 new loading points this year, including in smaller cities such as Mecca and Medina.
By the end of 2026, Gazzaz predicts that the country will have a “viable minimum network”.
“We are not just talking about top cities, but also about second -line cities, and covering some of the main highways,” he said. “In the end, we are trying to cover about 70 to 80% of travel needs throughout the kingdom by 2026.”
Seitz stated that the country’s official goal of 30% of electric cars in Riyadh will probably be achieved, but “an additional impulse” may be necessary to make the ves a mass product for the whole country.
A survey published in May 2024 by the Center for Studies and Research King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and University College London concluded that the large -scale adoption of Ves in Riyadh will probably require the government to introduce financial incentives, such as VAT exemption for new vehicles, subsidized loading and free installation of residential porters, “at least in early stages of implantation “.
The government states that it has already introduced some financial incentives and subsidies for Ves buyers.
A better infrastructure will help boost the Ves Revolution in the country, experts say.
“Ves prices are falling, model options are growing and government signs are clear – but autonomy anxiety remains,” said Seitz. “Public loading is the main gap, and now it’s a top priority to solve it.”
