Pramod Bhandari, manager of Agni Energy, the authorised dealer of Mahindra Reva e2o electric cars in Nepal, says there is increased interest in these battery-operated autos amid concerns over the environmental impact of vehicles running on fossil fuels.

He believes that although gasoline burning cars will continue to dominate the market for years to come, the interest in electric vehicles is also spreading and sales are rising.

“We sold 78 electric cars in the last fiscal year, and total sales in the last three years since their debut in the Nepal market have reached more than 150 units,” said Bhandari. “We are hoping to sell 200 cars during this fiscal year.”

The Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) Auto Show that kicked off in Kathmandu on Tuesday is expected to give a publicity boost to electric vehicles. Awareness about electric vehicles among the public is still at a low level, but those who know about them see them as a reliable and healthy option, according to electric auto dealers. 

“Doctors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), embassies and United Nations agencies have been the main customers of electric vehicles so far,” said Bhandari, adding that they planned to reach out to a greater mass. “These battery-operated cars can travel for 120 km on a single charge, so they can be used for comfortable riding in the city,” he said. An electric car costs Rs2.15 million.

Agni has collaborated with NIC Asia Bank to provide easy financing to purchase electric cars. The company also plans to establish more charging stations although the car can be charged at home by plugging it into a normal electricity outlet.

While Agni Energy imports electric cars, Hulas Motors, a subsidiary of the Golchha Organisation, has been working to produce electric cars in the country. Three weeks ago, the company started field tests of its new electric car named the Da Vinci.

Hulas Motors is currently testing the prototype in Kathmandu and on hilly areas. It said the car would be priced at around Rs1.4 million. 

Never before did Nepal feel the need for an alternative mode of travel as much as it did during the four-and-a-half-month long Indian embargo when gasoline supplies dried up and transportation came to a grinding halt.

As gasoline operated vehicles queued up day and night for a few litres of fuel, electric car and scooter dealers saw a massive rise in inquiries for their products.

Surendra Manandhar, managing director of Asta Auto, the sole distributor of Vmoto scooters, said that they received a flood of inquiries about electric scooters during the embargo.

“The blockade helped to create a very good image of electric scooters as people were struggling to get fuel from petrol pumps then,” said Manandhar.

Manandhar, who imports e-scooters from Australia, has sold 200 of them so far. They cost between Rs80,000 and Rs260,000.

According to e-scooter dealers, there is a growing tendency among owners of gasoline driven scooters to keep electric scooters as a second vehicle in case petrol disappears from the market.

The blockade created such a situation, according to them. However, electric scooter sales came to a complete stop after the government said that they needed to be registered just like gasoline driven two-wheelers.

Five months ago, the Department of Transport Management had issued a 15-day deadline to electric scooter owners to register their vehicles before bringing them out on the streets.

“The government told owners to register their e-scooters before driving them on the roads, but it did not issue a clear procedure which badly affected our business. We feel that dealers of gasoline powered two-wheelers may have influenced the decision,” said Manandhar, whose firm offers four models of Vmoto scooters—V-90s, VX-90s, V5 and Bee.   According to government officials, a notice was published asking electric scooter owners to register their vehicles the same way as gasoline powered vehicles.

As per the Transport Management Act, a road worthiness test must be done before the vehicles can be registered.

Before the notice was issued, electric scooters were being operated without any registration. “We just told users of electric scooters to follow this legal provision,” said a senior official of the Department of Transport Management.

Electric scooter dealers are hopeful that the registration process will begin very soon. Bijay Ray,

chief executive officer of Bela Motors, the authorized distributor of Bela electric two-wheelers in Nepal, said that the Department of Transport Management had started the necessary process for registration after conducting a road worthiness test.

“We have asked our customers not to drive their e-scooters on the streets for now. I hope the registration process will begin very soon as preparations are in the final phase,” said Ray.  Policy-wise, the government has sought to accord priority to electric vehicles.

In the current fiscal year’s budget, the government has fixed the import duty at 1 percent on all types of large electric vehicles to be used for public transportation besides freeing them from excise duty.