Cairo -

Last February, the fiftieth engineer Amr decided to sell one of his cars, planning to buy a new one for his son weeks later, but he was surprised by the rapid jumps in the prices of both new and used, coinciding with the crisis of the war in Ukraine and the drop in the price of the Egyptian pound against the dollar, which made him regret it To sell his used car as well, and he thought about looking for an alternative that the government proposes and encourages citizens to buy, namely the electric car.

And Amr believes - in his speech to Al Jazeera Net - that this option is also not easy currently, with the lack of used electric cars, and the high prices of new cars, amid questions from those who wish to switch to electric cars about the availability of their spare parts, charging stations, and others.

At a time when the country's car market is suffering from stagnation and the prices of new and used cars alike are rising, with an increase greater than the increase in the dollar's price against the pound, attention is turning to electric cars.

The government is interested in increasing the use of clean cars, and is taking several steps, the most important of which is preparing the infrastructure to receive electric cars, such as providing charging stations, and looking at opportunities to manufacture an electric car in the country.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi expressed his interest in the matter, and directed the strengthening of cooperation with companies from the private sector to localize the electric car industry, starting with the assembly phases, leading to integrated manufacturing, in line with the growing global trend in this regard.

Auto market stagnation

The car market is one of the most affected by global economic conditions, as the Corona pandemic crisis affected the volume of factory production, then the war crisis in Ukraine came to affect the auto sector, according to the head of the Automobile Association Osama Abul-Magd.

Abul-Magd added - in televised statements - that the car sector is facing a real crisis, pointing out that there are huge entities that continue to work in the country in order to preserve its name, adding, "Whoever used to sell 100 cars, today cannot sell only 10 cars."

The head of the used sector of the Association of Car Dealers, Mahmoud Hammad, believes - in press statements - that the decline in Egypt's imports by 53.5% of cars last April is normal due to global conditions, as car factories around the world stopped due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, in addition to the ongoing Corona crisis. More than two years ago, as well as the emergence of the shortage of electronic chips.

Hammad - who heads a company specializing in the sale of new and used cars - adds that the decline in car imports has led to a lack of supply in the local market, which has led to an increase in demand and an increase in car prices, predicting that their prices will continue to rise in the coming months until imports are opened again so that cars are available inside Egyptian market.

The rise in prices hits the car market in Egypt after the rise in the price of the dollar against the pound (Al-Jazeera)

import and manufacture

From here, electric cars seemed the hope for reviving the local market, and during the past years, the government opened the door to importing used electric cars, with a maximum of 3 years from the date of their production, to enter the Egyptian market zero-emission electric cars that were not available before.

It also imported 13 electric cars of the "E70" model for testing in the Egyptian streets, with the aim of producing a similar one in the local Nasr Company for the Automotive Industry, with a local manufacturing rate of 58%, and the import of used electric cars was stopped.

In November of last year, the partnership between Egypt and China in the electric car project stopped, and the Ministry of Public Business Sector announced that the suspension of negotiations came as a result of the failure to reach an agreement with the Chinese company to reduce the price of the imported component sufficiently to enable the Nasr Automotive Company to produce and launch the car. at a competitive price.

import restrictions

Currently, the import of electric cars is limited to models of the same model year, with the condition that they be in the name of the owner, like traditional cars, and not have previously been used, according to the decision of the Ministry of Industry and Trade last May, which made the matter difficult and restrictive unlike previous years.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Nevin Jameh, said that the latest decision comes within the framework of the state's direction to encourage the national electric car industry by starting to produce this type of cars, in cooperation with major car companies.

manufacturing journey

Last May, the Minister of Public Business Sector Hisham Tawfiq indicated that the manufacture of electric cars in Egypt will take place outside the Nasr Automobile Company, and will take place in a factory owned by a private sector company, contrary to the previous trend that “Al-Nasr” will manufacture electric cars.

Tawfik added - in press statements - that the manufacturing journey and building a factory in Al-Nasr Company will take a long time, huge investments and experience in management that may need 3 years to be available, stressing that the cost of the electric car that will be manufactured locally will differ from the prices that were previously announced due to the change in the prices of raw materials. The rise in the price of the dollar.

According to press reports, it is scheduled to operate 3,000 charging stations for electric cars within 18 months in the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Giza and Sharm El Sheikh, and on various highways.

A government plan to replace the electric car in Egypt (communication sites)

new choice

The number of licensed electric cars in Egypt did not exceed 380 vehicles by February 2022, which reflects the lack of interest in this type of car in the local market during the last period.

Local media promote the benefits of electric cars, such as saving fuel consumption, which will contribute to reducing pollution and carbon emissions, and stressing that the cost of charging electric passenger cars at home is the same as the cost of electricity consumption at home.

Some have created groups on social networking sites to discuss the advantages of electric cars, while some see that electric cars are not as practical as traditional ones due to the lack of charging stations, and others are concerned about the high cost of charging them later, as well as concern about the availability of the necessary maintenance locally.

Replacement of the tuk-tuk

The government plans to replace "tuk-tuks" with electric vehicles, as part of the presidential directives on replacing vehicles with clean energy "electricity".

A few days ago, the head of the 6th of October City Development Authority, Engineer Adel Al-Najjar, representing the Urban Communities Authority, signed a cooperation protocol with Recon Company to implement the project to replace “tuk-tuks” (used by citizens for transportation such as taxis) in the 6th of October City with other electric vehicles. With the necessity of the availability of safety means and the ability to license the Traffic Department, after preparing all the necessary studies for the project.