UAE electric car plan excites Tesla and other marques

In May, the UAE government announced a new automotive plan that aims to see at least 10% of federal vehicles replaced with electric cars. The goals of the fleet upgrade scheme are to reduce the government’s own greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage others to adopt green vehicles. That’s both locally, and the government hopes that other GCC nations will follow suit.

This news comes as car makers increase the green options available in the UAE. Telsa will open its first UAE store this summer and is encouraged by the news, offering the Model S sedan for AED275,000 as it continues to push electric and self-driving cars across the region. For those looking for a more affordable option, Renault will launch its Zoe40 model later in the year in the UAE, offering a single-charge range of between 300km and 400km for around AED125,000.

With many more electric models hitting the world’s showrooms in 2017 and 2018, more will soon be available in the UAE to provide greater choice as local businesses and car makers improve the number of public charging stations available. Tesla is already building nine new stations, with many already installed in neighbouring emirates. Most car park operators are installing, or plan to install, charging points.

Charging points offer around 100 miles of travel per hour of charging, but most owners can happily manage a day’s driving on a single overnight charge. Another key benefit of electric cars is the vastly reduced maintenance costs as there are no complex engines to service and fewer moving parts that can age or fail. Figures show that an electric car costs about a third as much to maintain as a petrol car. That and the general move to more environmentally friendly transport are great reasons to consider an EV as your next model.

If you are planning to upgrade to an electric vehicle, with BMW and Jaguar bringing new EV models to the market soon, you can sell your old car to us directly. The process takes less than half an hour and you can see what you can get for your model here at Simply Car Buyers