Dubai civic fleet to go 10% electric

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Dubai: Thousands of cars to be ordered in the next few years by Dubai government bodies will be electric as part of a new target to make 10 per cent of civic fleets electric vehicles by 2020.

Reporting to the Supreme Energy Council, an Executive Electric Car Committee and a Technical Electric Car Committee are charged with achieving the benchmark in order to slash carbon emissions in Dubai within the next four years.

“We have a target of 16 per cent [carbon reduction] by 2020. I’m sure down the road, it will be decreased even more. In the near future, we hope to achieve an even bigger target,” said Waleed Salman, executive vice-president, Strategy and Business Development with Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (Dewa) since 2007.

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A 20-year veteran of the energy sector, Salman is also a member of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and chairman of Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence and Dubai Green Economy Partnership.

Salman told Gulf News that the committees are made up of energy and environmental experts from Dewa, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Police, and Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (Esma).

“Of all the new procurement of vehicles, 10 per cent will go to electric cars only,” Salman said in an interview. “Dubai is going in the right direction. It will happen very fast. In a few years, you will see a big difference on Dubai roads.”

Dubai has already flipped the switch on 100 electric-car charging stations with more promised in the months ahead and some government bodies such as Dewa having already purchased a number of electric cars for everyday use by staff.

Dubai energy officials, meanwhile, have worked with electric-car companies such as Tesla to ensure that the UAE is on the approved pre-order list for the Model 3, a new Tesla vehicle that has electrified global interest in eco-friendly cars with 325,000 pre-order reservations worth $14 billion (Dh51.42 billion) booked recently.