Ethiopia bans import of private gas-powered cars, but switching to electric is rocky road

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia. As fuel prices rose sharply in Ethiopia earlier this year, Avgachev Seleshi decided to buy electric car. This is consistent with the government’s new efforts to phase out gas-powered vehicles. But months later, he wonders if it was the right decision.

It faces a range of problems, from power outages in the capital Addis Ababa to a shortage of spare parts.

“It was not easy to charge my car,” the government employee said. “Parts that are imported from China are expensive, few mechanics are capable of fixing such vehicles, and the resale value of such vehicles is low.”

Seleshi’s problems point to broader problems in Ethiopia. In January, the East African country became the first in the world to ban the import of non-electric private vehicles.

The decision eased pressure on authorities, who are spending scarce foreign currency to subsidize fuel costs, but it also reflected growing enthusiasm for electric vehicles as the world demands more green technology to cut emissions. climate changing emissions.

Earlier this month, the Ethiopian government raised fuel prices by up to 8% as part of a plan to phase out all fuel subsidies in Africa’s second most populous country.

Authorities have claimed some success in enforcing the ban on non-electric vehicles entering Ethiopia, with more than 100,000 electric vehicles now imported into the country each month.

The official goal is to increase monthly import volume to 500,000 by 2030. big new dam Built on the Nile River, Ethiopia is expected to produce electricity at full capacity.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a televised address earlier this year that the Grand Renaissance Dam would begin generating more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity within a year. Authorities say such capacity will encourage the transition to electric vehicles.

For now, many in Addis Ababa, a city of more than 5 million people, doubt the country can achieve its ambitious EV goals without further necessary infrastructure and services.

The few garage owners who can fix broken electric cars say they are overwhelmed, while customers say they are being overcharged amid an apparent lack of competition.

“There are two or three garages in Ethiopia that can fix new energy vehicles, and many consumers don’t know how to care for such vehicles,” said Jonas Tadelle, a mechanic in Addis Ababa. “We mechanics also lack tools, spare parts and know-how to repair such vehicles.”

Many electric cars are now parked in garages and parking lots awaiting parts from China.

Ethiopia’s Transport Minister Bareo Hassen Bareo said he believes the country can become a model country with a legacy of green economy, a key component of which is prioritizing electric vehicles.

The government will invest in public charging stations, he told The Associated Press, and there are plans to set up an electric vehicle battery factory locally to reduce dependence on imports.

Private efforts included a collaboration, which has since failed, between Olympian Haile Gebrselassie and South Korean automaker Hyundai to produce electric vehicles in Ethiopia. It is believed that these efforts failed due to the search for materials.

Samson Berhane, an Addis Ababa-based economist, said the sudden influx of electric vehicles into the local market despite poor infrastructure makes it difficult for customers to comfortably adapt. Some electric cars sell for around $20,000.

“Very few people are willing to take the risk of buying electric vehicles due to a lack of infrastructure, a shortage of mechanics specialized in servicing electric vehicles, and flooding the market with Chinese brands that have questionable parts and long-term visibility,” Berhane said. .

But he said he believed Ethiopia was more than capable of powering an expected 500,000 electric vehicles over the next decade while meeting its industrial ambitions.

Some Ethiopians are already moving away from electric vehicles, and the trade in used gasoline-powered cars continues. There are at least 1.2 million cars in Ethiopia, and only a small portion of them are electric.

Businessman Yared Alemayehu bought a Chinese-made electric car, which he hoped to use for his taxi service. He knew the car had a mechanical defect, but he believed it could be fixed. The mechanic disagreed.

He eventually sold the car at a loss and bought a Toyota Corolla – a 2007 car he believed was more reliable – for the equivalent of $20,000, which included the hefty taxes levied on gasoline cars. Taxes may be higher than the cost of importing the car.

“Besides the fact that my old electric car had to be charged, it often broke down, the garage was overloaded, and the queue at the garage was overwhelming,” he said.

Taxi driver Dereje Hailu, who had high hopes for his Chinese-made E-Star electric car when he bought it earlier this year, said his expectations were not met.

“I’m afraid that with a car like this I might get stuck if I go far from Addis Ababa, where there are no charging stations,” he said.

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