Pakistan is steering toward a greener future. Under the National Electric Vehicle (NEV) Policy 2025–30, the government aims to make 30% cars in Pakistan electric by the year 2030. This was recently announced by Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production.
This move is not just about modernizing transport—it’s about reducing costs, fighting pollution, and boosting public health. Let’s take a closer look at what this shift means for everyday Pakistanis.
Why Go Electric?
The main reason for going electric is simple: it’s better for the economy, the environment, and your health.
Here’s what EV adoption can achieve for Pakistan:
- Save 2.07 billion litres of fuel every year, reducing reliance on imported oil
- Cut foreign exchange costs by $1 billion annually, helping the national economy
- Reduce carbon emissions by 4.5 million tons per year, cleaning up the air we breathe
- Lower healthcare costs by $405 million annually, thanks to fewer pollution-related illnesses
The Subsidies
To help people make the switch, the government is offering Rs. 9 billion in subsidies for the fiscal year 2025-26. These funds will help cover the cost of:
- 116,053 electric bikes
- 3,171 electric rickshaws
And here’s something great: 25% of these subsidies are reserved for women. The goal is to provide safer, more affordable transport options, especially for women who commute daily. All of this will be handled through a fully digital platform, so applying and receiving support will be simple, transparent, and efficient.
The NEV Policy
The main aim of the policy is to reduce pollution, cut fuel costs, and boost the local auto industry. According to Haroon Akhtar Khan, the goal is for 30% of all new vehicles sold in Pakistan by 2030 to be electric.
This move is expected to:
- Save around 2.07 billion litres of fuel each year
- Cut carbon emissions by 4.5 million tons
- Save nearly $1 billion in foreign exchange
- Reduce healthcare costs by $405 million annually
Pakistan’s move toward electric vehicles is more than just a trend—it’s a smart step toward a cleaner, healthier, and more affordable future. Whether you’re a driver, commuter, or just someone who wants cleaner air, this change is something we can all look forward to.
The road ahead is electric—and Pakistan is ready to drive it.
What needs to be clarified in the new EV policy is, what about the tax based on battery capacity?
As we all remember, in the pervious EV policy, the government placed a rule which stated that EVs with up to 50Kwh battery size were exempt from tax. Over 50Kwh battery vehicles were to be taxed at full rates. That was a very arbitrary and pointless rule placed in the policy and we can easily conclude that it was placed there at the behest of the old legacy auto assemblers because EVs were/are clearly out of their domain. This has made EVs pointlessly expensive in Pakistan.
For example, if we look at the prices of the Seres 3, BYD Atto 3 and MG ZS EV, we can clearly see the MG is SO much more expensive by comparison. So much so that the 72Kwh battery long rage version becomes so expensive (Almost 1.5 Caror) that it is not even available except on paper. They know no one will buy it. Similarly, if we look at the GuGO box, the Ora 3 and the MG 4, the MG is again the most expensive. And again, we can see it has the biggest battery. A bigger battery which should be a welcome addition and a solution for range anxiety has been turned into a case AGAINST EV adoption.
Japan has the Kei car segment in ICE or mild hybrid vehicles. Similarly, China has the Small EV cars segment simply called “low speed EVs”. These vehicles are VERY popular in China and include all the small EVs we have here in Pakistan such as the so called “American” Rinco Aria, Inverex Xio, GUGO GIGI, BAW Pony etc. These vehicles in chine range anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 on average. Yet here in Pakistan we are paying 3 times or more for them.
Lastly in the sedan segment I will simply give one example otherwise this will get REALLLLY long. The BYD seal starts at 99 lac PKR in the Philippines and 86 lac PKR in Australia. However, in Pakistan it starts at almost 1.5 Caror PKR! (all prices give in PKR for ease of reference).
The 50Kwh arbitrary limit needs to go. Does this new EV policy address that? If not, then this EV policy again is only lip service and does not address THE key issue to EV or even plugin Hybrid adoption in Pakistan and will only keep this segment for the select few.
IF they want this policy to be “for Pakistan”, Taxes on (lithium) batteries need to be drastically reduced or abolished altogether. This will not only increase their adoption for home use but it will also make the one segment of EV mobility cheaper which the vast majority of the country depends on: The two wheelers.
The government has very proudly imposed carbon levy on fuel and vehicles. Fun fact, these levies were originally designed for vehicle manufacturers to force them to offer more hybrids and plugins or EVs. Why this levy is imposed, not on the companies but on people instead, in a country where we cannot even afford ICE cars let alone EVs is beyond me! However, now that these levies have been imposed, what is to be done with the tax collected through them? The best use would be to actually talk with the banks and, using this carbon levy tax, help provide very easy installment plans on all EV Two and three wheelers and small EV cars. Financed at no more than 5%. You want EV adoption that is how you do it.
So, to sum up:
Is the random 50Kwh battery capacity lock in the previous policy being removed for the good of EV adoption in Pakistan and to bring prices down?
What is the purpose of the carbon levy and what will be done with it?
Why are easy finance options NOT given to the public in general to really boost Ev adoption?
What is the purpose of giving token subsidies on a lac EV bike here or there or a few thousand Ev rickshaws other than political optics only?