Discussed various issues of EVs in EV Chautari

Nepal Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) organised an exhibition of electric vehicles from September 22 to 25, 2022 in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.

The four day event was the first ever exclusive show in Nepal as this was focused on electric vehicles only. There were stalls for the purchase of electric vehicles available currently in Nepal market, their parts and financial services as well. As the side events, USAID Clean Air organised EV Chautari for 3 days from the second day of the auto show.

Kulman Ghising, Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kanakmani Dixit, Chairperson of Sajha Yatayat, Kimberly Waller, Deputy Director of Office of Health Office USAID, Anup Kumar Baral, Chairman, NADA Auto Expo committee, Bhushan Tuladhar, Chief of Party USAID Clean Air, and SaritaRai, Head of Environment Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City expressed their views on EV Chautari on the first day session of EV Chautari with the theme ‘Technology and Ecosystem’

Kulman Ghisingsaid that NEA has been providing electricity to electric vehicles at a cheap price. As a result, it is much cheaper compared to vehicles that run on petroleum products, he added while encouraging people to switch to EVs.

Kanakmani Dixit mentioned that the Nepali market has finally accepted electric vehicles. In the past, electric vehicles were not much popular, it is gradually increasing now. “Many countries in South Asia have been producing and using electricity sourced from coal which is very harmful and has a great impact on the environment. However, Nepal produces clean energy which is cheap and sustainable for the environment too”, he added. He further announced that Sajha Yatayat is soon adding 40 electric buses to its fleet for clean mobility.

Similarly, Kimberly Waller said that Nepal has been encouraging the use of electric vehicles for a long time and it is very positive. According to her, an emphasis should be put on electric vehicles for environmental cleanliness because vehicles running on fossil fuel products pollute a lot. She also announced that USAID will provide support for green mobility in the coming days as well.

Similarly, in the same session, a group of panellists Shankarsingh Dhami, Mechanical Engineer of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply, Sirapa Shrestha, Researcher of Kathmandu University, Abhishek Karki, CEO of Abhiyantriki Karmashala, Dinesh Paudel, EV Training Head of Sipradi Trading and Sagarmani Gyawali, EV Charging Station Expert at NEA, discussed the topic for the day ‘EV technology and ecosystem’.

The session focused on analysing the existing technologies and trends related to EVs globally and in Nepal, including the possibility of retrofitting ICE vehicles to EVs and charging infrastructure.

‘EV Business & Financing’ was the theme for the second day session of EV Chautari. The session was chaired by Kanakmani Dixit.

The panellists expressed their views that the use of EVs as public transport is still lagging behind mainly because of the high cost of electric buses and the lack of suitable financing system. Therefore, there is a need to explore is an innovative financing system and business models to encourage private or public investment in the electrification of public transport. That means cost of electric buses should be entrepreneur friendly so that measures to reduce initial cost of electric buses should be taken seriously so as public transport entrepreneurs find conducive environment.

On the occasion Krishna Prasad Sapkota, executive director of Town Development Fund, Sunil KC, CEO of NMB Bank Ltd. and vice president of Nepal Bankers association, Sonika Manandhar, co-founder of Aeloi Technologies, an organization that helps fund women micro-entrepreneurs using digital tokens, Rajan Rayamajhi, the managing director of Chairman, Theego Clean Energy Pvt. Ltd. said that EVs for Public Transportation should be a priority for the government. The fund collected as Pollution Control Tax on every litre of diesel and petrol has been swelled to a purse of 19 billion rupees should be appropriately used to invest in promotion of EVs for Public Transport was also discussed. Similarly, global climate funds should be made available for Nepal for EVs for funding Public Transportation was also discussed. 

The EV Chautari held on the final day discussed on EV Policy and Governance.

Ram Chandra Paudel, , Technical Director at Department of Transport Management, Yamuna Shrestha, Managing Director of CIMEX Inc.,  Sagar Gajurel, General Secretary of Journalist Association of Automobiles & Mobility and Chief Program Officer, Road Safety & Transport Authority, Government of Bhutan and Manoj Sliwal, Deputy Managing Director of NEA were the panellists.

The panellists mentioned that a strong policy for EV promotion is lacking in Nepal. The government has some commitments on decarbonisation of mobility. Sustainable Development Goals, Nationally Determined Contributions, the commitment PM Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed at COP26 last year, Energy White Paper issued by Nepal Government, 15th 5 year plan, and some policies formulated by the government are still to be functional.

Therefore, policies for EVs such as frequent change in tax rule, government support in human resource development for repair and maintenance of EVs, conversion of ICE vehicles to EVs should be taken into consideration for immediate action. Similarly, the government and EV importers need to prepare for the use or reuse of after an active life of batteries installed in the EVs.

All three day events were coordinated and facilitated by Bhushan Tuladhar, Chief of the Party of USAID Clean Air.