Back to feeds

Nepal is 3x more aggressive on EVs than India! 🇳🇵🇳🇵 And once you learn why, it turns out to be a completely fundamentals-driven decision-making by Nepal Govt! Here’s all you should know! .. Land-locked, Nepal imports all its oil from India, which imports much of it from elsewhere. Thus, it ends up spending a big sum on importing fuel, every year. That’s a big issue given Nepal ran out of forex and had to ban imports of a host of things. .. And it gets worse? Due to a lack of opportunities domestically, an ever-larger number of Nepali folks are moving abroad for work. And, these people have begun to wire back record amounts of remittance Dollars, which is fueling the avg Nepali’s consumption, including towards cars. That’s also driving petrol & diesel demand. .. This is where Nepal Govt has swooped in to end the menace. How? Replace 30% of all new car sales with EVs by next year, and 90% by 2030! Compare that to India’s target of 30% share by 2030. Thus, Nepal’s clearly 3x more aggressive! ⚡️⚡️ .. But how do EVs help address the imports of fuel? Nepal generates almost all its electricity via hydropower, of which it has an abundance. -> With India’s help, it has already completed most of major projects, ensuring 94% of Nepalis now have a reliant electricity supply -> Next year, the biggest such hydropower project (ARUN-III) will also be completed, which will make Nepal electricity surplus Thus, using that electricity to power up cars will help it save hundreds of millions going ahead. .. So, what is Nepal doing to push the adoption of EVs? -> Charging lower duties on imported EVs, ranging from 25% to 90% -> The import duties on traditional cars are 276% to 329%! Means? In Nepal, EVs are already way more affordable than traditional cars. .. Outcome? As per The Himalayan Times, EV imports into Nepal doubled in each of the last two years. -> To further quadruple in 2024, which indicates a massive boom. -> And in 2023 alone Nepal saw EV sales helping it save ~$22mn on fuel imports -> Savings will grow exponentially as sales surge to 30% of all cars sold in 2025 & 90% in 2030 Thus, a big win! 🙌🙌 .. My only heartburn? -> Much of the EVs you see on Nepal’s roads are all from Chinese giant- BYD. -> Tata Motors, which apparently has great EVs is hardly seen anywhere. I was in Nepal a few weeks back, and my relatives there confirmed the same. Everyone’s buying BYD & CHERY cars. It gives a clear picture of how good the Tata Motors EVs really may be, given Nepali people who have known the Tata brand for decades are choosing BYD over it. What do you think?