Encouraging electric vehicles in Egypt

In the latest step to boost the greater uptake of electric cars, the Ministry of the Public Business Sector announced on Saturday that 10 companies and consortia had qualified to tender for the management and operation of electric car charging stations in Egypt.

According to the ministry, 14 companies and consortia submitted expressions of interest to manage and operate the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Company that is still being founded.

The company is scheduled to establish and operate 3,000 charging stations for electric cars within 18 months in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Sharm El-Sheikh and on various highways. The estimated cost of establishing it is reported to be LE450 million.

Charging stations for electric vehicles are one of the major prerequisites needed to encourage more people to own them. At the moment, there is little interest in electric vehicles in the local market. The latest data published by the Egyptian Group for Compulsory Vehicle Insurance showed that the total number of electric vehicles licensed in the country had reached about 380 by February 2022.

Besides working on the infrastructure, the government intends to produce Egypt’s own locally manufactured electric vehicle. In June 2021, the ministry launched the Nasr E70 electric car named after the Al-Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of the Metallurgical Industries Holding Company, after an initial agreement with Dong Feng Motor Corporation in China.