The city of Dubai has announced a host of incentives it hopes will encourage local residents to buy electric vehicles.
Over the weekend, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) joined the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to confirm the incentives which range from free registration through to free parking in the city.
More specifically, the RTA will exclude EVs from registration and renewal vehicle fees, provide a free Salik tag (required to use Dubai highways), give EVs a unique number plate and provide free parking spots in 40 different locations set to be established by the end of the year.
Additionally, DEWA will allow electric vehicle owners to use 100 different charging stations for free until the end of 2019.
Speaking about the city’s push to increase the number of EVs on its roads, DEWA chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said the incentives will help increase interest in electric cars.
“[The main challenge is] we don’t see electric cars in the market and we would like to penetrate the market by providing such incentives. I am sure now that government and private entities, or even individuals will shift to electric vehicles when they know how much they can save,” he said.
As it stands, there are just 800 electric vehicles in Dubai but DEWA wants EVs to account for 2 per cent of the city’s vehicular fleet by 2020 and 10 per cent by 2030, Khaleej Times reports.
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