“We are working very hard to bring in electric vehicles in Nepal. We don’t have a timeline. To some extent, we are constrained by the availability of charging facilities. But a Tata EV will be available on the streets of Nepal soon,” Sujan Roy, Head of Passenger Vehicles (International), Tata Motors said in a statement.

Making an official announcement in this regard, Roy said they are considering this move as a social responsibility.

“We have the vehicles being manufactured at our plant every day, we would be happy to bring them to Nepal. Yes, the concessions available on EVs are attractive, but we consider it as a social responsibility to bring EVs to Nepal,” he added.

Explaining on pricing strategy, Roy further explained that the prices will come down gradually with the advent of technologies.

“I would say that the tipping point in the EV market will soon be reached and electric cars will be as ubiquitous as mobile phones,” noted Roy.

It is noteworthy here that Tata has recently released its first batch of the EV model of its Sedan Tata Tigor in Gujarat, India.

Upon implementation, Tata would compete with the likes of BYD, Mahindra and KIA which have already come up with similar initiatives for Nepal.

This move comes an encouragement to the Nepal Government that has been pitching for clean energy solutions as part of eco-friendly policies.

EVs, Energy Security for Nepal

“EVs will provide a measure of energy security for Nepal. As of now, the price of oil affects us in many ways, but when we switch to electric, the situation will be different,” says Nepal’s former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal.

In line with Roy’s official aforementioned statement, proper standards that support full-fledged operation of EVs and lack of sufficient number of charging stations continue to exist as prime reasons limiting EV adoption in Nepal.

According to Khanal, Nepal Government is yet to come up with the relevant standards to give needed boost to EV implementation across the country.

Challenges aside, finally Clean Nepal is on the way!

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Be it ramping up of hydropower projects adding to the country’s energy base, implementing ‘no-horn policy’ in Kathmandu, among others, Nepal is on pace for eco-friendly policies.

As a step ahead in the process, Nepal is also gearing up for early adoption of Electric Vehicles (EV) or green vehicles, which is in fact the high-priority task for most of the global nations.

Nepal’s former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal has some important information for us on Nepal’s willingness towards adoption of EVs.

“EVs will provide a measure of energy security for Nepal. As of now, the price of oil affects us in many ways, but when we switch to electric, the situation will be different,” says Khanal.

Khanal opines that the transition in Nepal for adoption of EVs will be quicker than in India.

“When there is disincentive to buy petrol-fueled cars, people will readily buy EVs. Whereas, in Nepal, there has been a voluntary adoption of EVs even when enough incentives are not in place,” he adds.

According to Khanal, Nepal has more charging stations per capita than India and has around 35 charging stations across the country.

Government Policies Can Take Ahead

According to Khanal, lack of standards and inadequate number of charging stations are two prime factors limiting EV adoption in Nepal.

The lack of proper governmental policies with regard to charging standard also remains another prime reason. “The government has not yet chosen the charging standard for electric cars. Government needs to choose one standard. This will encourage them to switch to EVs,” Khanal adds.

“With the right policies in place, we can achieve complete transition in 10 years. The transition for public vehicles will take longer but for private vehicles, we can do it in 10 years,” says Khanal.

Khanal further opined that there would be a day when petrol stations across the country will see a fall in business.

“So, my suggestion is that the government should make it mandatory for all petrol pumps in Nepal to set up a charging station for EVs. This will be a good investment as eventually, EVs will become the norm in Nepal,” he adds.

On a closing note, Khanal opines that the government should disincentivize the use of fossil fuel cars and should declare rural areas recently connected with the national road network and other areas like Singh Durbar, the administrative hub of the country, as ‘EV only zones’.

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