We have been constantly advocating in these columns that Sri Lanka should swiftly shift over to electric vehicles. It is thus heartening to note that finally, there is a movement in this direction. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in his recent address to Parliament, said priority will be given to the import of electric cars once the import ban on vehicles is lifted, possibly next year. Earlier, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has sought Cabinet approval to give priority for electric car imports.
This is a historic decision, given the extremely high price we pay for fuel, not only in monetary terms but also in environmental terms. We import fossil fuels worth US$ 4 billion a year, which we can ill-afford especially at a time like this. Moreover, traffic jams in Colombo alone are estimated to cost billions of rupees per year. The damage to the environment from tailpipe emissions is another aspect.
Most countries are now moving towards the full adoption of electric vehicles with varying deadlines, the most common one being 2035. We cannot afford to wait another 15 years to go all-electric. Hence 2030 is a more realistic deadline, but we have to make a start now, by giving priority to importing and assembling electric vehicles and giving concessions for the same. The Government itself should gradually turn its fleet to electric in these nine years.
Motor vehicles have become a casualty of the import restrictions in the light of COVID, but there is no question that imports will have to resume at some point. It is a matter of when, not if. Besides, as a member of the International Community abiding by World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, we cannot keep out imports forever.
But there are several factors to consider here, both from the point of view of the Government as well as the consumer. The country generally spends around US$ 1.5 billion every year to import vehicles, which is a huge burden for a country like ours. With nearly 500,000 registrations per year (inclusive of motorcycles and scooters), one also has to consider the collective fuel bill for all these new vehicles. This is not sustainable in the long term for an emerging economy battered by COVID and external shocks.
The depreciation of the Rupee is another factor to consider. This means vehicles will be more expensive to import and purchase in Rupee terms. But there is a way out of this imbroglio which calls for a twin-pronged approach. Hence the well-subscribed school of thought that we should limit passenger vehicle imports to hybrids and pure electrics once the imports begin and then shift over completely to electrics. This is a sensible argument, given the need to reduce our fuel bill.
If you think that electric vehicles are not yet “mainstream”, almost every manufacturer from Mercedes to Renault has at least one all-electric model in their line-up. Electric vehicles are becoming cheaper and their battery range keeps on increasing. Almost every mainstream manufacturer has announced plans to produce only electric vehicles from 2030 onwards, just nine years away.
Sri Lanka should adjust accordingly, bringing in only hybrids and electrics from now until 2030 and thereafter permitting only pure electric cars to be registered. A further grace period of 10 years can be given for heavy commercial vehicles, whose pace of electrification is somewhat slow in comparison to personal passenger vehicles. By 2030, electrics will cost the same as Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars or even less, so the price will no longer be an issue. Batteries may also be able to do up to 1,000 Km on a single charge by that time, ending “range anxiety”.
But there is one problem. If all these electric cars tap into our mainly thermal-powered National Grid to recharge, the whole purpose of having electric cars will be negated, as fossil fuels will anyway be burnt for mobility. There are two solutions – one is to drastically increase the generation of renewable energy. Plans are already afoot in this direction and it will indeed be possible to get nearly 80 percent of our energy requirements from wind and solar by the end of this decade.
The other approach is to have individual solar-powered charger units for electric vehicles. Duty concessions can be granted for the import of such units. These two approaches will reduce the pressure on the National Grid, slash the fossil fuel bill and air pollution and lead to a better environment overall. The Government should also consider installing an islandwide DC electric car charger network which can fill up batteries to 80 percent capacity in just 20-30 minutes, which minimizes electricity consumption. Taxes and duty concessions should be granted for the import and installation of these superchargers at private premises too. Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars are also appearing gradually, for which we will need hydrogen filling stations.
The world of mobility is changing fast, with driverless cars too on the way. We should be ready for that future in terms of infrastructure and an attitudinal change. Transport planners should take all these factors into account as we head rapidly towards 2030.
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