Dubai: To energise the adoption of electric cars in Dubai, more incentives should be introduced by the government, said Saeed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

He said Dewa is studying a list of incentives to encourage the usage of electric vehicles on Dubai’s roads.

“This study will be discussed by the Dubai Council of Energy soon to be ready for execution,” he said.

To support the initiative for Dubai to be the smartest city in the world, Dewa is also working on developing the required infrastructure to encourage the use of non-polluting vehicle in Dubai, he said.

“This is not enough and government should introduce better incentives to bring greater awareness about the efficiency of using electrical cars to Dubai’s citizens and residents,” Al Tayer said.

The UAE is a very premature market in the usage of electrical vehicles compared to the European market, said Rabih Jammal, Sales Manager at Renault. “The stubborn fact is that the number of electric vehicles in European garages is half the number of conventionally fuelled cars,” he said.

In turn, the European government gives a lot of incentive to encourage people to adopt an electrical vehicle by providing 5,000 euros (Dh19,700) to the purchase of a vehicle, allowing free access to toll roads and free limited parking, he said.

In Dubai, Renault sold about 50 electrical vehicles in two years. It is a very small number and government is responsible to introduce incentive to attract people to adopt an electric car, Jammal said.

Dewa is establishing the required infrastructure for using electric vehicles by installing 100 charging stations in various areas in Dubai, like malls, airports, commercial buildings, residential complexes and petrol stations. The installation will be complete by the end of 2015.

“Dewa supports the introduction of electric vehicles in order to decrease air pollution and protect the environment against the impact caused by transport sectors in the emirate,” Al Tayer said.

Green bus

Dubai Road and Transport Authority’s (RTA), will be launching a pilot trial to test zero emission electric bus on Dubai’s road next week as part of its effort and commitment to the conversation of the environment.

With a speed of 80km per hour, the bus can travel around 167km and uses 300 per cent less fuel.

“The pilot trial aims to support the government initiative to lower greenhouse gas emission related to transport, to provide whether there is economic benefit of replacement the conventional buses with electric ones and to determine the reliability and performance of electric buses in the UAE,” Abdul Muhsen Younes, President of Energy and Green Economy Committee at the RTA, said.

Moreover, Dubai Taxi Corporation has 110 hybrid vehicles among its fleet, which save about 30 per cent of fuel.