The Federal government is considering charging 1% customs duty on the import of heavy-duty electric vehicles as the National Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2020-25 covers motorcycles, three-wheel vehicles, four-wheel vehicles, and heavy-duty vehicles.
It was revealed by senior officials of the Ministry of Climate Change during a recent meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Climate Change.
During the meeting, the officials apprised the committee that 2 e-motorcycle manufacturers have established their manufacturing plants in the country while 60 traditional motorcycle manufacturing companies are operating in Pakistan at the moment.
Initially, their collective output was around 1,000 units in the inaugural month which has now jumped up over to 5,000 units each month.
Chairperson of the committee Senator Seemi Ezdi appreciated the development and questioned the charging infrastructure of e-motorcycles.
In response, the officials said that e-motorcycles can be charged easily at home and they normally take up to 8 hours for full-charge while charging units are being installed at petrol pumps all over the country as well.
Member of the committee Senator Taj Haider suggested installing solar-run charging units at petrol pumps to promote green technology across the country.
Besides, the officials informed the committee that customs duty on traditional vehicles was 100% previously, which has now been reduced to less than 25%. However, there is no duty on the import of regular EVs.
Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the National EV Policy last year that envisions converting 30% of passenger vehicles and 90% of heavy-duty trucks to EVs by 2030 and 2040 respectively.
The country’s first-ever EV policy offers a wide range of incentives to EV importers which is why they have already imported a large number of EVs despite a dearth of charging stations and other facilities for such vehicles.
