Promotion of electric bikes in full throttle

LAHORE:

In view of global energy problems and fluctuating oil prices, often costing much to consumers, many countries are adopting electric vehicles to reduce oil import expenditures. Economic giants like the United States and China are already leading the race to manufacture or retrofit existing vehicles to electric power to save foreign exchange and ensure a cleaner environment.

However, developing countries already overburdened by hefty oil import bills have yet to embark on this journey, largely due to a lack of technology and awareness among the masses.

Pakistan also entered the race two years ago with a number of companies manufacturing and assembling electric motorbikes. Despite being a potential sector of the economy, this market did not click with consumers due to their aptitude and market acceptance to complete replacement of the conventional motor bikes. Therefore, efforts were required to boost this sector to cut down oil imports and address the trade deficit and balance of payments, among other issues.

"Our company launched an indigenously developed e-bike at very affordable price two years back but it could not penetrate the local market," said electrical engineer Rehan Zaffar, who works for an e-bike company. Zaffar mentioned that the promotion of e-vehicles was intrinsically linked to the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. "The assembly or manufacture of lithium-ion batteries in our country is insufficient to cater the needs of fully adopting electric vehicles," he commented. "Therefore, we need to increase the number of companies manufacturing lithium-ion batteries”.

The public response to e-vehicles, previously gauged through pricing, aftermarket sales and maintenance is now changing due to another important component – the oil prices.

As most of Punjab’s cities are badly hit by smog every year, shifting to electric vehicles would also help tackle this nuisance by reducing vehicular emissions across the country.

However, potential customers have concerns about the safety, infrastructure, aftermarket support, price, durability and design of these vehicles.

Read Local production of electric bikes urged

In spite of the aforementioned concerns, the e-bike is gradually attracting people as they desire to cut down expenditures on fuel. But the majority cannot afford prices being offered by local assemblers, manufacturers, importers and dealers.

People with lower budgets prefer to modify their conventional motorbikes by installing electric parts and batteries from vendors available in local market. Although Chinese e-bikes and parts presently dominate the auto market, a large number of motorbike users remain unable to shift to e-bikes.

"An e-bike generally needs overnight charging of 1.5 units at home for an 80km range," informed e-bike importer and dealer Yasir Mushtaq. "Such a bike only costs consumers Rs1,500 per month as compared to Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 for a petrol-driven 70cc bike.

Promotion of EVs would surely and substantially cut down the country's oil import bill and reduce pollution and environmental damage," he added.

The Punjab government and Engineering Development Board (EDB) are diligently working to promote e-bikes and many local and foreign companies have expressed willingness to carry out local assembly

"The government is all set to promote cost-effective e-bikes to control smog and cut down oil import spending," remarked Caretaker Provincial Transport Minister Ibrahim Hasan Murad. "As a first step, we will lease e-bikes to government employees, while bikes would be subsidized for students of universities and colleges," he added.

Hasan Murad also emphasized on Electric Vehicles Policy to ensure healthy environment and cost effective travelling.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2023