Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Gulf’s cheap petrol slows take-up of electric bikes

By Shruthi Nair
  • Middle East adoption slow
  • UAE wants 50% electric by 2050
  • 10,000 electric bikes sought

Almost 20 percent of the new cars sold this year are electric, according to the International Energy Agency, while e-bikes are becoming a familiar sight in cities around the world.

The Middle East is behind China, the US and Europe on mass adoption, despite the lower operating costs and lower emissions of electric vehicles (EVs).

Husam Zammar, founder of the Terra e-mobility startup in Dubai, points to one core reason: the Gulf’s cheap petrol.

“In our region, petrol prices are quite low compared to Europe,” he told AGBI. So, potential buyers don’t have the same impetus to go electric.

“When we meet new clients, we have to cut costs – and then talk about the environmental impacts,” he added.

Terra’s clients include restaurants, pharmacies and third-party logistics companies – and it is aiming to have 10,000 electric bikes on UAE roads next year.

There are around 92,000 delivery bikes in the Emirates right now, according to Zammar, and each petrol model emits approximately 10,203kg of CO2 per year. 

Government incentive programmes for buyers and users – as already seen in the UAE and Saudi Arabia – will get more EVs on roads across the region, he added.

Industry skills are also a challenge for Terra. “If we go to find EV engineers, the maximum we can find are ones with three or five years of experience because the industry is new,” Zammar said. 

Building the charging infrastructure is vital, too. A 2023 report by the US International Trade Administration has highlighted the UAE government’s “strong commitment” to promoting EVs and its “plan to develop a national ultra-fast EV charging corridor”.

This is aiming for a huge increase in the number of charging stations across the UAE by 2030 – from the 250 in Abu Dhabi and 350 in Dubai in 2022. 

“We need to have more,” Zammar said, in order to achieve the UAE’s target of 50 percent of all cars being electric by 2050. 

Ali Abdo, a world-record-breaking long-distance motorcyclist, used Terra’s electric bike to travel across the UAE’s seven emirates without stopping to charge. Watch the video to find out more

Latest articles

Shein IPO

Mubadala-backed Shein courts investors before London IPO

Chinese fashion retailer Shein, which is backed by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, is courting European investors before an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. Shein is due to hold informal meetings to answer questions and test the investment appetite of major investors in the coming weeks, before its planned IPO […]

Workers stand on a scaffold in Dubai. Building a high rise in the UAE can be as much as two thirds cheaper than in other major cities

Apartments in UAE among cheapest to build in the world

Building a standard residential high-rise in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is up to two-thirds cheaper than in other major global cities, thanks to land, labour and raw materials all costing much less. Land is up to three times cheaper in the UAE compared with the prices paid in New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore […]

Despite challenges to the economy, Kuwait's bank sector remained resilient, the country's central bank says

Kuwait’s economy holds up against challenges, says central bank

Robust spending and “long-due” structural reforms expected to accelerate following “recent political developments” will help Kuwait’s economy overcome some challenges, according to the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). Kuwait faced multiple challenges in 2023 in the face of high inflation, rising global interest rates and bubbling geopolitical tensions in the region, according to CBK’s 12th […]

Saudi Arabia data centre

Four-fold boost to Saudi data centres planned

Saudi Arabia plans to boost its data centre capacity four-fold to more than 1,000 megawatts over the next five years, according to one of the country’s leading data centre providers. The current capacity in the kingdom is approximately 250-300MW. Abdullah Al Ghamdi, CEO of Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS), revealed the target in an interview […]