One of the speakers at the coming World Future Energy Summit’s 1st annual The Mobility Conference, which is also the kickoff point for the 2018 Middle East Electric Vehicle Road Trip, is Fares Almazrooei. Aside from having several electric vehicles in his stable, Mr. Almazrooei is Cofounder and Managing Director of Volt. He has been an EV leader in the UAE since the Tesla Roadster days. He also has a much broader role in Dubai and UAE business, policy, and politics.
Below is an interview Ben Pullen, Cofounder and Managing Director of Global EVRT, conducted with Mr. Almazrooei about the EV story in the UAE. As you can see, he even approaches interviews with a pointed, no-nonsense, matter-of-fact style — an efficient process and clear targets for improvement.
1. The UAE has now laid concrete foundations for EV adoption. In your opinion, what are the main targets and policies which can help accelerate the market from the margins to the mainstream?
- Targets — achieved and to accelerate the sustainability in automobile industry. This will contribute substantially to stopping global climate change.
- Policies — there are quite a few policies that need to be addressed, from VAT to power providers.
2. What sustainable transport pearls of wisdom will you be mainly be talking about and sharing at at the WFES/Global EVRT Mobility Conference in January?
- Infrastructure
- Incentive Programs
3. What are the main challenges facing the industry right now?
- Lack of government support
- Heavy incentive programs must be introduced
- Mandate all manufacturers and dealers to bring in their electric vehicles to GCC
- Changing policies in homologation standard to allow manufacturers and dealers to bring in the electric vehicles.
4. How do you see the market playing out by 2020?
I think there will be an increase of 100% electric vehicles on the roads from today until 2020 and that will double if there will be policies implemented with proper or effective incentive programs.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
