Thanks to one simple policy change less than five years ago, 65% of new cars in this Himalayan country are now electric.
Drivers in Nepal are adopting electric vehicles at breakneck speed, with 65 percent of new cars sold in that country last year being electric.
As Adele Peters explains in Fast Company, the rapid growth is thanks to radically reduced import duties and excise taxes on EVs, which dropped the purchase cost for consumers. “After someone owns an EV, it’s also cheaper to operate than a gas or diesel vehicle. That’s true anywhere, but especially in Nepal, where fuel is imported and expensive.”
Electric three-wheeled vehicles known as tempos, which gained early popularity in the 1990s, are making a comeback. Kathmandu, the capital, is also investing in a fleet of electric buses, which cost around 33 times less to charge than the cost of fuel for a gas-powered bus.
The shift helps the nation achieve its Paris Agreement goal of reaching 90 percent adoption of EVs for private four-wheeled vehicles by 2030, which will help curb air pollution in Kathmandu, where the city’s mountainous geography traps pollutants.
FULL STORY: How Nepal became one of the world’s fastest growing EV markets
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