Dubai Supreme Council Of Energy Announces New Electric Car & Hybrid Incentives

New incentives meant to increase community member use of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicle use have been revealed by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, at a recent press conference.

The new incentives — part of the Dubai Green Mobility Initiative — are partly intended to help Dubai achieve its Dubai Plan 2021 goals, and partly intended to help reduce air pollution and reduce energy consumption in the largely oil-dependent emirate.

So, what are the new incentives? A brief overview would include: free charging at DEWA’s Green Charger electric vehicle charging stations for registered users (until 2020); exemption from RTA electric vehicle registration and renewal fees; free assigned parking via the RTA in some places; exemption from Salik’s tag fee; and special identification stickers for license plates.

The announcement took place at the Armani hotel in Dubai, and saw HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Supreme Council of Energy and MD&CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), make some interesting comments that are worth highlighting here.

Here are some highlights: “Under the directives of our wise leadership, who made sustainability a key priority, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy launched the Dubai Green Mobility Initiative to motivate organisations, under its umbrella to use sustainable transport, such as hybrid and electric vehicles, and to contribute to the sustainable development of the Emirate by reducing carbon emissions in ground transport, which is the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in Dubai.

“The Supreme Council of Energy issued directive number 1 of 2016 to set a target for government institutions. Therefore, at least 10% of all newly-purchased cars will be electric or hybrid from 2016 to 2020. The proportion of electric and hybrid cars will rise to 2% by 2020, and 10% by 2030. Under the umbrella of the Supreme Council, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is working on implementing the Dubai Green Mobility Initiative to promote the use of electric and hybrid vehicles. This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, for Dubai to have the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050, and the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy to cut carbon emissions by 16% by 2021.

“In support of the Smart Dubai initiative, to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world, and according to DEWA’s vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility, DEWA launched the Green Charger initiative in 2014, to build the infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations all over Dubai. This works to promote Dubai’s environmental, social and economic development as a strategic goal by launching initiatives, programmes and projects that contribute to efforts to reduce the carbon footprint and protect the environment in Dubai.”

Relating to that, DEWA is now reportedly working to install 100 more EV charging stations in 2018 — which would bring the emirate’s total up to 200 or so.

In related news, Dubai recently received 50 Tesla vehicles (a combination of Model S and Model X deliveries) for use in the Dubai Taxi fleet. An additional 150 will be added to the fleet. This is intended to eventually be a fully autonomous taxi fleet, and it seems possible it would be the first place in the world where real commercial robotaxis would be deployed, but we’ll have to wait to see.

Notably, some of the first owners of Tesla Roadster and Tesla Model X vehicles live in the UAE, which has had an eye on the electric revolution for years. Additionally, the Vice Ruler of Dubai reportedly has a Tesla Supercharger at his house — he may not be the only one.

It may be surprising since the UAE is such an oil-rich country, but the country is also known for its futuristic leanings and love of tech innovation.