Some of the steps developed in some Western countries toward electrification of the motor car can be followed in the GCC region. These include building the needed infrastructure, taxation on the most polluting vehicles, incentives for zero-emission electric cars and legislation support for the necessary change.
Britain and France have put a deadline of 2040 for ending production and sale of new internal combustion engines. Only electric and hybrid vehicles will be sold new from that date. Shell has already launched fast-charging points for electric cars at three service stations in London. They charge most electric cars to 80 percent in half an hour.
The British government has introduced a bill to make electric vehicles charging points mandatory at all large petrol stations and motorway services. The Electric Vehicles Bill will lead to charging points being installed in about 8,500 filling stations, which would almost double the number of charging stations now in use.
The bill also deals with the issue of autonomous driving, stating that the insurer is liable for any damage caused if the car is insured and driving itself.
If not insured, and the accident is caused by the car when driving itself, the owner is liable for the damage. Owners will also be liable for accidents if they have modified the software of their car or failed to install important updates.
The bill outlines a huge investment in electrification and autonomous driving amounting to £1.2 billion ($1.56 billion). It includes ideas for street charging points linked to street lamps.
For a move toward alternative energy and autonomous driving, GCC countries need to have a vision of the timescale to apply new technologies, issue legislations that allow for their use and invest in the infrastructure needed for electric cars. Car companies have expressed an interest in assisting in all aspects of that change.
The changes to the motor industry in the next decade will be deeper and more disruptive than in the past half-century. The best way to deal with the coming upheaval is to prepare for it early.
•Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.
Electric car vision: Prepare early for big changes
Electric car vision: Prepare early for big changes
Price cuts drive sales of Saudi-owned electric car
- Lucid delivers more vehicles than expected as it prepares to launch luxury new Gravity SUV
RIYADH: The majority Saudi-owned electric car maker Lucid delivered more vehicles than expected in the past three months as price cuts helped boost demand.
The company delivered 2,394 cars from April to June 30, above analysts’ predictions of 1,940.
Lucid produced 3,838 vehicles in the first six months of 2024 and needs to make more than 5,162 cars by end of the year to meet its annual output forecast of 9,000. It made 8,428 cars in 2023.
“I think at this point everything is shaping for them to achieve that,” said Andres Sheppard, senior equity analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. Lucid will produce and deliver more cars in the second half of the year because of the usual seasonal effects on the industry, he said.
Demand for electric vehicles has grown more slowly than expected pace in the past year, under pressure from high borrowing costs, economic uncertainties and consumer preference for hybrid alternatives.
Lucid and the market leader Tesla have responded by slashing prices and offering incentives such as cheaper financing options. Lucid, which is 60-per-cent owned by the Public Investment Fund, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, cut the price of its flagship Air model by 10 percent in February.
Its new Gravity SUV model, a rival for Tesla's Model X, goes into production this year and will cost about $80,000.
