UAE to roll out countrywide EV fast charger network

Wam

• UAEV plans at least 1,000 chargers
• EVs made up 13% of cars sold in 2023
• First 100 chargers to come this year

The UAE is speeding up the expansion of its electric vehicle charger infrastructure in support of the energy transition, the shift from fossil-based systems of energy production.

UAEV, a joint venture between the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and Etihad Water and Electricity that was announced on Monday, intends to build a network of high-performance EV chargers across the seven emirates.

It plans to roll out 100 fast and ultra-fast chargers by the end of 2024 and install at least 1,000 EV chargers by the end of the decade.

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Sharif Al Olama, energy undersecretary at the ministry and the chairman of UAEV, said on Monday that 13 percent of the vehicles sold in the Emirates last year were EVs, three and a half times as many as the year before.

EVs made up about 15 percent of global sales in 2023, a figure that is forecast to grow to almost 40 percent by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

Al Olama told the Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit in Abu Dhabi: “Across our seven emirates, communities are becoming increasingly more environmentally and technologically conscious.

“The government and private sector’s role is to respond to greater demand and encourage our communities to go further by realising strategic infrastructure investments.”

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The UAEV chargers will be placed in shopping centres, car parks, residential areas and government buildings “to make EV ownership more appealing”, said Yousif Ahmed Al Ali, chief executive of Etihad Water and Electricity.

The Emirati government wants half the cars on its roads to be electric or hybrid by 2050.

Last month Statevolt Emirates announced plans to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in Ras Al Khaimah, with a planned capital outlay of $3.2 billion.

UAEV’s first chargers will not be made in the UAE. They will be provided by companies such as Siemens, at least for now. 

Al Olama told AGBI: “The UAE is looking to bring manufacturing capacities to the country.

“This is an open invitation to the private sector: we are open to doing business. If there is a value proposition, we are here to listen.”