Car Maker Announces To Bring Electric Vehicles

Web Desk — Indust Motor Company (IMC) has revealed its future plan to introduce electric vehicles in Pakistan, saying that hybrid electric vehicles are their first step in this direction.

Speaking at an auto conference, titled “Role of hybrids in transforming automobile landscape in Pakistan”, IMC Chief Executive Officer Ali Asghar Jamali underlined that his company was working on “Make in Pakistan” philosophy and invested around $100 million to produce hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) in the country.

“We have a plan to bring electric vehicles (EVs) in the long run when Pakistan is ready for this technology,” he mentioned.

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He was of the view that Pakistan should develop a national industrial policy for a period of 20 years, so that serious foreign investors could come to Pakistan, eventually attracting foreign direct investment in the fields of steel manufacturing, light engineering, etc.

“The automotive industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country and it accounts for 2-3% of GDP (gross domestic product),” he said, adding “Pakistan is the 35th largest producer of automobiles.”

“We can confidently say that with the existing power generation mix, HEVs can serve all the objectives of EVs, including the cap on carbon emissions, reduction in oil import bill while contributing to localization and increasing the GDP size,” he claimed.

“Pakistan imports $9.7 billion worth of crude oil for refineries to produce petrol and diesel and the largest category of import is petroleum commodities,” Jamali said, adding that the import bill could be reduced by 50% if the country had 100% HEVs.

On the other hand, he said, EVs depended on electricity and “Pakistan is producing 62% of electricity based on fossil fuels with up to 30% line losses”.

“EVs will cause an increase in LNG (liquefied natural gas), coal and crude oil imports while investment for improving distribution and creating infrastructure to charge those vehicles will also be required,” said Jamali.

Therefore, based on the current infrastructure and forex reserves condition, HEVs were the most viable solution for Pakistan, he added.