50% electric, hybrid cars on UAE roads by 2050: Minister

In its drive towards sustainability, the UAE is en route to shifting to eco-friendly transport systems, with electric and hybrid vehicles to account for 50 per cent of total vehicles on UAE roads by 2050 alongside the tripling of power generation capacity from renewables, a senior official said.

Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, has shared the target during the Ministers’ Roundtable on Transport – Energy Nexus to Deliver Climate Goals and a Just Transition, hosted at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28).

The country had over 81,000 electric and hybrid vehicles on its roads as of June 2023, he said.

During the roundtable, Al Mazrouei highlighted that as the most dependent sector on fossil fuels, the transport sector should be the number one target sector of the collective decarbonisation drive.

Tripling renewables capacity 

The Minister said: “For effective clean energy-powered transport systems, we need to triple our renewables capacity by 2030 as demanded by the COP28 Presidency. The UAE has heeded the call and committed to tripling its renewables by 2030, as per the updated UAE Energy Strategy 2050.”

He added: “Hydrogen is projected to play a crucial role in decarbonszing the transport sector. Our National Hydrogen Strategy calls for the production of 1.4 million tons of low-carbon hydrogen per annum by 2031 and increasing production to 15 million tons by 2050.”

Al Mazrouie added: “We are shifting to eco-friendly transport systems and are pleased to see our EV market growing steadily as we plan to increase the share of electric and hybrid vehicles to 50 per cent of total vehicles on our roads by 2050. By mid-2023, we had over 81,000 electric and hybrid vehicles on our roads.

“To achieve this goal, we are constantly expanding our EV network and infrastructure to make EVs more appealing to customers. We aim to have a total of 914 EV charging stations by the end of 2023, and 10,000 chargers by 2030. Given the area of the UAE, the ratio is high.”