Roll-out of electric car charge stations first step towards cleaner transport

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is introducing a fleet of 100 electric cars and charge stations, which will help assess how the vehicles cope in the UAE's harsh heat.

Nissan is just one of the big car manufacturers to take strides in the electric car market, with its LEAF. Graham Crouch / Bloomberg

DUBAI // A plan to roll out electric cars and charging stations in the emirate could offer valuable answers on the performance of the technology in local conditions and pave the way for public adoption, experts have said.

Announced by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, the plan will involve a small fleet of 100 electric cars.

The vehicles have long been pointed to by experts as cleaner, more environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional combustion-engine cars but questions have been raised over their performance in the UAE, where harsh summer temperatures could pose challenges.

Currently, there is little information on how electric vehicles fare in the UAE, as there are few of them in the country, said Reem Al Junaibi, a PhD student at Masdar Institute who spent two years studying the subject.

One important issue is the performance of electric batteries used to charge the motor.

“As the temperature increases, the battery efficiency goes down,” she said.

A trial, involving 10 electric vehicles, is currently under way at Masdar City, in Abu Dhabi. But Dewa’s plan, if it is implemented, means that real-life information on their performance in local conditions could become available for the first time.

The plan, which will also see Dewa collaborating with other government departments and private entities to build electric car charging stations around Dubai, was announced on Monday and could be the first step towards adopting cleaner cars in the UAE, she Ms Al Junaibi.

“I was very happy to see a government entity starting to roll out charging stations,” she said. “It is a major milestone to have more electric vehicles in the UAE.”

In contrast to conventional cars, which take minutes to fill up with fuel, electric cars need longer; on average several hours to charge. Ms Al Junaibi said that rolling out electric cars in corporate fleets is easier to manage in terms of routes, charging locations and timings, compared to programmes aimed at public use.

Yolande Pineda, the director of corporate communications at Nissan Middle East, said the company’s electric car, the Nissan LEAF, which currently sells in 35 countries, is already used successfully by Taxi Electric, a transport company in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Moving beyond corporate fleet use to adoption by the general public requires government support, she said.

The success of electric vehicles “is directly related to the development of an ecosystem which favours” adoption technology, she said. The two main factors affecting this are the availability of dedicated charging stations and incentives for users.

“Electric vehicles require an investment in public infrastructure, especially charging stations,” said Ms Pineda. “Many industry experts state that one of the best ways to encourage people to switch to electric would be by installing more electric vehicle charging stations across public areas such as malls, service stations and business locations.”

Ms Pineda gave as an example the United States where “electric charging stations have become on-street facilities provided by electric utility companies”. They are available at company car parks and hotels, and mobile charging stations have recently been introduced as well, she said.

“These facilities are one piece of the puzzle but across Europe and the US there are also strong tax incentives for fleets to swap to electric vehicles,” said Ms Pineda.

“In some cities, such as London, electric vehicles are exempt from the congestion charge — a substantial saving for delivery companies.”

Ms Al Junaibi said that another way to encourage users to switch to electric cars could be to adopt smart technologies within charging stations, so that users could book a time slot to charge their vehicles by using their mobile devices, for example.