ISLAMABAD:The country on Thursday embraced its first ever locally manufactured eco friendly and emission free electric-run motorbikes transport that would be reducing pressure on the environment and economy in future.
Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated Pakistan’s first eco-friendly electric bike (e-bike) launched by a local motorbike manufacturer which was an important part of the current government’s National Electric Vehicle Policy 2020-25.
The policy was passed last year with the aim of building a strong electric vehicle market and shifting the existing automobile industry EV in phases, a Ministry of Climate Change official told reporter.
Under the policy, 30% of public transport and heavy duty vehicles would be converted to EV by 2030 and 90% of the vehicles to EV by 2040.
The E-Bike launched by the Prime Minister had distinctive features as compared to a fossil fuel based motorbike as the speed of e-bikes was up to 60 km per hour, no clutch and gear system and could travel a distance of 60 to 100 km in single charge.
General Secretary at the Pakistan Electric Vehicles & Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association (PEVPMTA), Shaukat Qureshi said the two-wheeler E-Bike was the poor man’s means of transportation that should be affordable and competitive in price as compared to its fuel based counterparts.
He said the e-bikes had a cheaper maintenance cost as compared to the fuel-based motorbikes. Qureshi argued the current model of e-bikes adopted by the local manufacturer that is similar to that of fuel based with slight modification. “The model introduced globally for e-bikes is completely different to the one introduced and launched today, It will mar the spirit of EVs envisioned in the EV Policy 2020-25,” he said.
He mentioned that 1% customs duty and 1% sales tax would help thriving e-bikes in the country as initially the manufacturers would import 300,000 e-bikes and then afterwards based on the demand would be starting its local manufacturing which is win-win situation.
Qureshi noted that there was great appetite for e-bikes in the market and half-hearted exemptions and incentives would not be helpful in achieving the target of penetrating EVs at a larger scale in the country.
As per the EV Policy 2020-25, there have been incentives proposed for two and three wheelers or low speed electric cars.
It added that the country had a huge market of two and three wheelers with over twenty million such vehicles already on roads in the country.
The local manufacturing of these vehicles had indigenization of over 90% already. However, the policy has addressed the need to incentivize the already available manufacturing expertise for converting to e-bikes and e-rickshaws.
The incentives extended under the policy included that all two and three-wheelers (EV-related) would be allowed import at 1% custom duty and sale at 0% sales tax, locally manufactured sale at 1% sales tax to bring the purchase price of EVs down, exemption of EVs from registration fees and annual token tax.
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