A friend recently sent me a WhatsApp photo, standing tall before a black SUV lit up like a stage with lights all around. The ambiance amplified his personality. He was invited to the launch ceremony of the Plugged-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV) by Haval in August 2025.
Like my friend, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are cool; they are trendy and in the spotlight nowadays. From a normal passenger car customer to the government, all are in awe of these aerodynamic, sleek, smart, and dandy-shaped vehicles. Another event in the same month proved that the government is also keen to follow the global trend.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan launched the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) policy 2025-2030 in Islamabad, accompanied by his aides. The enthusiastic audience applauded, students received gifts of electric bikes, and the Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification (PAVE) Scheme was launched with ambitious targets, including achieving 30% of all new vehicle sales as electric by 2030.
Everything looks amazing, but there are deeper concerns regarding the implementation of the policy. It reminded me of the famous five-year plan of 60s, for which we have heard stories. The stories in which these plans, when implemented by other countries, produced excellent results, but they never worked for our motherland. We are perhaps good at making plans, but implementing these is another ball game, which is certainly not our forte.
Achieving targets in this policy seems an uphill task due to multiple reasons. The foremost is the price of these vehicles. The lowest priced four-wheeler costs Rs. 4 million. Replacing engines with motors, fuel tanks with batteries, and transmission with electronic control boxes, EVs have eliminated many moving parts and made the design simpler.
But these are expensive machines costing more than their contemporary fossil fuel vehicles (FFVs) in almost all the automobile-producing countries except China. Many times, random thoughts raced through my mind about why EVs are expensive. Being an automotive industry enthusiast, I came up with many answers. The ores used for batteries are expensive.
Perhaps the R&D costs too much money, or electronics take resources. But at the same time, I think FFVs also have electronics and a whole bunch of them. The mechanical parts also need sophisticated metallurgy. Research teams spend a lot on improving the efficiency of engines and transmissions. So, why is there a differential in the price of relatively similar category vehicles? The answer is still elusive.
The question continuously haunts me. Although there are no more engines with sophisticated metallurgy and transmissions, there is lithium, copper, and gold-plated circuitry involved, making these cars expensive.
Globally, automotive companies are in a frenzy to produce the best-looking EV with a range of hundreds of kilometers (and even thousands) in a single charge. Then I turn to the economics of it. The reason may be attributable to economies of scale. But BYD is making an EV every seven seconds. Perhaps the economies of scale have been achieved.
When talking about the proliferation of EVs, reliance on completely built units (CBUs) imported from China may not help. There are about 10 brands in Pakistan delivering/offering EVs to the market. They are mostly Chinese manufacturers ready to exploit the opportunity of incentives by the government to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The names are as odd as their prices for these EVs.
Take for example, Gugo by Gigi Motors, Omoda & Jaecoo by Chery, and Deepal by Changan. High price points keep these vehicles out of the range of middle-class customers, although they are in their dreams.
The companies need to set up production facilities in Pakistan to produce these vehicles and achieve economies of scale. Mostly Chinese companies like BYD, GWM, and Chery are in the process of setting up their plants with local partners to produce EVs in Pakistan.
Will they be able to achieve economies of scale and lower the prices? The answer to the question is not easy. The local support in terms of repair and maintenance is also an issue, as it requires an upgrade to the whole repair chain from training technicians to a constant supply of spare parts. The training aspect is largely missing in the planning, not an unusual case in Pakistan.
While the domestic auto industry overall struggles to meet both ends, setting ambitious targets for EVs presents a challenging situation. At a recent event in Islamabad, which I happened to attend, Chairman PAAPAM was vocal about the overall situation.
Another prominent member spent some time requesting the minister to take special care of this industry during his presentation on the auto parts sector, which is still living in the pre-EV era, and the majority of vendors are happy to make parts with little utility in the new market of sleek electric automobiles. Bringing EVs to the streets is a fine vision and a fancy dream, but to make it a reality is an altogether different effort.
Equally critical is the lack of charging infrastructure, which is rare, even in major cities of the country. Even in the capital, Islamabad, there are only a handful of these facilities. Companies are reluctant to invest because of the unclear mechanism of the supply of electricity to the charging stations.
The National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA) has developed regulations for a simplified licensing process for charging stations and fixed the electricity tariff to attract investors for charging stations. Potential investors are watching the scene closely, hesitant to commit due to trust and technical hurdles.
It may take a single bold move, the first drop of rain, to unlock confidence and set others free to invest, since everyone wants to safeguard their investments. The government intends to provide one-window facilitation to the investors, but investors are skeptical of their actions.
Although there are many Chinese EV manufacturers in the market now, displaying their products on the billboards and at well-lit showrooms, there is none aggressively pursuing the installation of charging facilities. BYD has announced plans to roll out high-speed chargers in major cities with the help of a local partner, aiming to augment existing petrol stations with modern chargers.
Another challenge is the import of vehicles under different schemes like gift, baggage, and disability. Investors exploit the loopholes, and changes in duties for hybrid vehicles have added fuel to the fire, causing customers to prefer FFVs over hybrid options. Customers are happy with imported cars, even if they generally come in the country with a running of over 0.1 million kilometers.
Overall, the majority of customers are clear that EVs are a new buzz, but these vehicles are not market-ready yet in Pakistan. In a country suffering from problems of policy inconsistencies, distrust of investors, and a controlled auto sector, a high rate of electric mobility in the near future may be just a fancy dream.
Customers need an adequate number of charging stations and affordable EVs to get motivation for the purchase of these vehicles. Until then, EVs will remain more billboard buzz than road reality. Vision 2030 without action is a fancy dream; everyone believes from the core of their hearts.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a professor at the Department of Engineering Management, NUST