Pakistan has a population of almost 225 million with a sizable road-transport sector .Pakistan has the 22nd largest road network in the world . National Highway Authority (NHA) estimates the total length of the road network in Pakistan to be 263,775 km, of which 12,131 km comprises of highways, motorways, expressways, and other strategic routes . Due to limited air and rail coverage, their share for domestic travel is negligible compared with road-transportation.

Almost 62% of Pakistan’s population are city dwellers and 40% of this segment resides in 26 metropolises of 300,000 residents or more. Mass transit is available in five large cities only. Due to the absence of mass transit in most cities, most people depend on personal transport vehicles like two-wheelers and passenger cars, while three-wheelers, vans, and buses are the only modes of commercial transport.

Currently in Pakistan the size of the market  of 

TWO-WHEELERS  is 22.71 million

CARS & SUVs 3.9 million

KEY FACTS

ABOUT THE TRANSPORT SECTOR IN PAKISTAN

ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS OF ELECTRIC MOBILITY IN PAKISTAN

In Pakistan, the environmental challenges associated with the road-transportation have a high significance due to several reasons. Pakistan is reliant upon euro 2 fuel standards which have excessively higher emission content. The GoP has issued directives to shift to euro 5 fuel standards from August 2020, which is underway.a

In addition, old vehicles having poor hydrocarbon conversion efficiency are prevalent on roads. Many two-wheelers and three-wheelers in Pakistan employ 2-stroke engines with lower efficiency than relatively new 4-stroke engines. Keeping in view the sheer size of the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments, they result in exorbitantly higher emissions than other vehicle categories. Furthermore, catalytic converters are not prevalent, especially in the two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and Heavy Transport Vehicle (HTV) segments. A combination of the aforementioned factors and characteristics of Pakistan’s transport sector result in the release of pollutants in higher concentrations.Due to zero emissions from EVs, the air quality in cities will improve substantially. Furthermore, based on the electricity generation mix of Pakistan, overall well-to-wheel emissions will reduce by 70%.

ECONOMIC DRIVERS OF ELECTRIC MOBILITY IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan is seeking to become self-reliant and currently suffers from a trade deficit in large part due to the import of petroleum products. Gasoline (petrol) is the most used fuel in Pakistan for transportation purposes, especially for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and passenger cars, whereas HTVs use diesel as the primary fuel. As of FY 2019-20, almost 70% of gasoline (petrol) requirements are met through import, while 35% of the diesel used in Pakistan is imported. The GoP has introduced a set of policy directives to reduce this dependence on imported fuel and its corresponding impact on forex reserves.

The transport sector in Pakistan is the largest consumer of petroleum, followed by the energy sector.

EV POLICY AND REGULATION

To achieve the EV penetration targets, the GoP approved the ‘Electric Vehicle & New Technology Policy 2020-2025’ in April 2020.The Electric Vehicle & New Technology Policy 2020-2025 aims at promoting non and low hydrocarbon-based technologies for transportation purposes through incentives for end-users and manufacturers. The policy aims to reduce emissions from the transport sector and create an indigenous industrial base to develop the EV value chain.

The market for electric cars is diverse i.e., there are distinct models of vehicles from different manufacturers. Due to the need for higher degree of technological advancements for indigenous development, there are no local players in the current market for electric car manufacturing till now. There are almost 2,000 electric cars in Pakistan and all of them are imported. There are nearly a dozen fast charging stations dedicatedly developed to serve the existing fleet of electric cars.

OPPORTUNITIES IN ELECTRIC CAR MARKET

The development of electric cars requires a higher degree of technological advancements than two and three-wheelers. Thus, all players in the electric car market require significant technical collaborations with established companies.

FUTURE MARKET FOR ELECTRIC CARS

Due to the size of the cars’ segment (almost 4 million) and rapidly increasing gasoline prices, there is a high projected demand for electric cars. To this end, many newly established companies are planning to develop low-cost electric cars indigenously. In the short-term, the electric car industry will have to rely upon imported EV-specific manufacturers.

BUILDERS MART & NUST JV FOR THE EV MARKET IN PAKISTAN

Builders Mart ( BM )  Chinese group is looking forward collaboration with NUST to bring the latest EV technology to Pakistan and support the Pakistan market for gearing up for the future