51 EV charging stations installed amid growing demand for four-wheeler EVs

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) launched 51 electric vehicle charging stations across the country this Wednesday.

Fifty-one charging stations are installed across major highways, at bus parks, and in major cities of the seven provinces. Twenty-six of them are for charging buses, trucks, pickup vans, and cars while the remaining Twenty-five are for cars.

Each station allows up to three vehicles to be charged simultaneously. Some of them were already operational before the formal launch.

Reportedly, the stations were installed with investments from NEA and concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with technical assistance from the Norwegian government.

Chinese firm, Jiangsu Jingdao New Energy, built the charging stations and will provide repair and maintenance service for the next five years based on the contract awarded to the firm in March 2021 which reportedly amounted to Rs. 368 million (including taxes).

In 2021, Nepal presented its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement for the period 2021-2030. The government has set a target for EV use to reach 25% of all private passenger vehicles, including two-wheeler sales, by 2025 and 90% by 2030.

For four-wheeler passenger vehicles, it has set a target of 20% by 2025 and 60% by 2030.

Based on the data from the Department of Customs, the country imported 4,050 electric four-wheelers (cars, jeeps, and vans) in the fiscal year 2022/23, while the imports were only 1,807 units in the fiscal year 2021/22 — a growth of almost 125%.

Similarly, the import value amounted to Rs 11.8 billion in the fiscal year 2022/23 which was Rs 5.3 billion in the fiscal year 2021/22.

The NEA has plans to build more charging stations while also facilitating the private sector to build the charging stations.