‘Mystifying indignity' of epic fuel saver

The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

Sydney Morning Herald

a day ago

Sydney Morning Herald

The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

'We're interested in making sure that this rapid growth in these emerging markets doesn't follow the same trajectory as the developed markets,' said Rob de Jong, head of sustainable transportation for the United Nations Environment Program. But as Nepal has learnt, there are obstacles. The country has spent heavily on subsidies for EVs, and getting rid of the support too quickly could derail the shift to battery power. Even if petrol-powered passenger cars are phased out, cleaning the air will require public transportation to go electric as well. The Asian Development Bank, a multinational development lender, has been a key financier of Nepal's dams, transmission lines and charging networks. The head of the bank's resident mission in Nepal, Arnaud Cauchois, is cautious about the risk of backsliding. 'Given the economic sense that this EV conversion represents for Nepal, I think I would see it as unlikely that we would have major policy change,' Cauchois said. 'But that's basically a wish more than a conviction.' From Indian petrol to Chinese cars Many countries are trying to electrify their vehicle fleets, but the case for doing so is even more obvious in Nepal, with its clean energy embodied in the rivers that run down from the Himalayas. A 2015 border skirmish with India squeezed Nepal's petroleum imports, then its largest energy source. After that, the government invested heavily in hydropower and grid infrastructure, which have provided cheap, non-polluting sources of electricity. Nearly all households now have access, and the rolling blackouts have ended. To maximise the potential of its homegrown power, Nepal would need to use it for transportation. But EVs were still too expensive for mass adoption in a country with a per-capita economic output of about $US1400 ($2150). So, the government pulled all the levers it had to provide incentives. Nepal's primary source of revenue is taxes on imports. To make EVs cheaper, the government set its customs and excise taxes on the cars at a combined maximum of 40 per cent in 2021, compared with 180 per cent for petrol-powered cars. Now, the electric version of one Hyundai SUV costs less than $US38,000, while the petrol-powered model is about $US40,000. The Nepal Electricity Authority built 62 charging stations, in Kathmandu and on highways across the country. It allowed anyone to build chargers, levied negligible tariffs on their import and gave away transformers – the priciest component. Finally, the government set electricity costs for chargers at less than market rates. At those prices, fuelling a petrol-powered car cost about 15 times as much as charging an electric one. That was enough to create a business model for hotels, restaurants and other roadside entrepreneurs to install chargers on their own. 'At first, everybody was scared – how to establish and whether it would run or not,' said Kul Man Ghising, who managed the electricity authority until March. 'But we tried and tried and tried.' Businesses have now installed about 1200 chargers, according to the agency, and private residences are likely to have thousands more. 'A win-win situation' At first, automotive dealers were sceptical. But Yamuna Shrestha saw the potential. Originally a distributor for solar power equipment made by BYD, the largest electric car company in China, she saw some of its new models on a trip to the company's Shenzhen headquarters in 2016. She secured the licence to distribute BYD vehicles in Nepal a few years later, when few others thought EVs could gain traction. 'Many people were pushing for fossil fuels, but there was no one advocating for electric vehicles,' Shrestha said. Her sales took off when BYD released cars that could go further on a single charge and had high enough clearance to cope with Nepal's rough roads. Now, she has 18 dealerships and expects to sell 4000 vehicles in 2025. Loading But the competition is withering, as dozens of Chinese brands have entered the market. Dealers of Indian-made vehicles say they can't match the low price and high quality of vehicles coming from Chinese manufacturers, which have been pressing to get into any markets they can. 'There is a kind of geopolitical push when it comes to EVs that come into Nepal,' said Karan Kumar Chaudhary, who runs Suzuki dealerships and leads the Automobiles Association of Nepal. 'You are talking about models that compete with Tesla that are coming in at half the price of a Tesla, which is unrealistic, right? As a consumer, it's a win-win situation.' Jit Bahadur Shahi was convinced. After retiring from the national police last year, he paid about $US33,000 for a new electric minibus. He ferries passengers seven hours from Kathmandu to his town, Janakpur, on the Indian border. Ten round trips are enough to cover his monthly loan payments, and he expects to pay off the van in four years. 'It's OK. I'm happy,' Shahi, 43, said while charging the van on a Saturday. 'But the problem is that charging stations are not everywhere.' He also worries how much it will cost to fix the van after the warranty expires, and what will happen when its battery wears out. Loading Businesses and advocates in the country are concerned that Nepal may already be backing off its commitment to the electric transition. The young democracy has had three prime ministers in the past five years, and priorities have shifted with each of them. The nation's central bank doubled down-payment requirements for EVs this year. The federal government, seeing declining revenues from car imports, has been inching up its tariffs on EVs. The government also does not have a plan for the collection or recycling of batteries. And auto dealers worry that faulty vehicles from some of the smaller Chinese brands could discredit the category. They're pushing for an agency that would independently certify safety and quality. Rajan Babu Shrestha holds the licence to distribute cars in Nepal from Indian manufacturer Tata Motors. He has seen sales rocket on his electric models, but he could go back to selling petrol-powered vehicles if tariffs rose or subsidies for charging stations went away. 'It's a very positive direction they are going in, but it really comes down to the long-term policy,' Shrestha said. 'Stability is always a question mark.' EVs for everybody For now, the electric shift in passenger vehicles is moving swiftly. But a vast majority of Nepal's residents don't have cars. Instead, they use cheaper motorbikes or mostly petrol- and diesel-powered buses. If Nepal is to clean its air, it will have to electrify and expand its public transportation fleet as well. Chiri Babu Maharjan is the mayor of Lalitpur, the city across the Bagmati River from Kathmandu. Legions of scooters have made it difficult for vehicles of any kind to get anywhere on the narrow roads. Electric two-wheelers have not gained much traction in Nepal, as they have in India. 'We are trying to reduce fossil fuel vehicles in my town,' Maharjan said. 'This is very difficult, but we must do something.' The solution, he said, was to give his constituents a better alternative. To do that, Maharjan has placed his trust in Sajha Yatayat, a bus company that is mostly owned by the state. Electric buses are expensive, and transit fares in the region are capped at about US36¢ (55¢) for the longest ride. That makes financing the purchases difficult. Nepal's government has stepped in with about $US22 million to buy them. For the past two years, Sajha Yatayat has been running 41 green-painted electric buses. But Kanak Mani Dixit, who until recently served as Sajha Yatayat's chair, thinks about 800 of them are needed to establish a network of routes with enough frequency to replace individual vehicles. China is stepping into this front, too. Recently, the Chinese government offered to give Nepal 100 more 12-metre-long buses at no cost. Dixit acknowledges that China may have its own motivations, such as increasing acceptance of its larger electric models, but he doesn't worry about it. 'We have been accepting foreign assistance since 1950, and this is foreign assistance,' he said. Even with more buses, taming the chaotic scrum of exhaust-spewing motorbikes will require a regional transportation authority that could clear more space for public transit. The agency's creation has been mired in political disagreement, but Dixit hopes it can finally make clean, accessible mobility a reality. 'The Kathmandu Valley is just waiting for someone to turn the key,' Dixit said. 'Coincidentally, this is the time exactly when the electric buses have made an entry. And you could just suddenly find things much different another five years from now.'

The Age

a day ago

The Age

The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

'We're interested in making sure that this rapid growth in these emerging markets doesn't follow the same trajectory as the developed markets,' said Rob de Jong, head of sustainable transportation for the United Nations Environment Program. But as Nepal has learnt, there are obstacles. The country has spent heavily on subsidies for EVs, and getting rid of the support too quickly could derail the shift to battery power. Even if petrol-powered passenger cars are phased out, cleaning the air will require public transportation to go electric as well. The Asian Development Bank, a multinational development lender, has been a key financier of Nepal's dams, transmission lines and charging networks. The head of the bank's resident mission in Nepal, Arnaud Cauchois, is cautious about the risk of backsliding. 'Given the economic sense that this EV conversion represents for Nepal, I think I would see it as unlikely that we would have major policy change,' Cauchois said. 'But that's basically a wish more than a conviction.' From Indian petrol to Chinese cars Many countries are trying to electrify their vehicle fleets, but the case for doing so is even more obvious in Nepal, with its clean energy embodied in the rivers that run down from the Himalayas. A 2015 border skirmish with India squeezed Nepal's petroleum imports, then its largest energy source. After that, the government invested heavily in hydropower and grid infrastructure, which have provided cheap, non-polluting sources of electricity. Nearly all households now have access, and the rolling blackouts have ended. To maximise the potential of its homegrown power, Nepal would need to use it for transportation. But EVs were still too expensive for mass adoption in a country with a per-capita economic output of about $US1400 ($2150). So, the government pulled all the levers it had to provide incentives. Nepal's primary source of revenue is taxes on imports. To make EVs cheaper, the government set its customs and excise taxes on the cars at a combined maximum of 40 per cent in 2021, compared with 180 per cent for petrol-powered cars. Now, the electric version of one Hyundai SUV costs less than $US38,000, while the petrol-powered model is about $US40,000. The Nepal Electricity Authority built 62 charging stations, in Kathmandu and on highways across the country. It allowed anyone to build chargers, levied negligible tariffs on their import and gave away transformers – the priciest component. Finally, the government set electricity costs for chargers at less than market rates. At those prices, fuelling a petrol-powered car cost about 15 times as much as charging an electric one. That was enough to create a business model for hotels, restaurants and other roadside entrepreneurs to install chargers on their own. 'At first, everybody was scared – how to establish and whether it would run or not,' said Kul Man Ghising, who managed the electricity authority until March. 'But we tried and tried and tried.' Businesses have now installed about 1200 chargers, according to the agency, and private residences are likely to have thousands more. 'A win-win situation' At first, automotive dealers were sceptical. But Yamuna Shrestha saw the potential. Originally a distributor for solar power equipment made by BYD, the largest electric car company in China, she saw some of its new models on a trip to the company's Shenzhen headquarters in 2016. She secured the licence to distribute BYD vehicles in Nepal a few years later, when few others thought EVs could gain traction. 'Many people were pushing for fossil fuels, but there was no one advocating for electric vehicles,' Shrestha said. Her sales took off when BYD released cars that could go further on a single charge and had high enough clearance to cope with Nepal's rough roads. Now, she has 18 dealerships and expects to sell 4000 vehicles in 2025. Loading But the competition is withering, as dozens of Chinese brands have entered the market. Dealers of Indian-made vehicles say they can't match the low price and high quality of vehicles coming from Chinese manufacturers, which have been pressing to get into any markets they can. 'There is a kind of geopolitical push when it comes to EVs that come into Nepal,' said Karan Kumar Chaudhary, who runs Suzuki dealerships and leads the Automobiles Association of Nepal. 'You are talking about models that compete with Tesla that are coming in at half the price of a Tesla, which is unrealistic, right? As a consumer, it's a win-win situation.' Jit Bahadur Shahi was convinced. After retiring from the national police last year, he paid about $US33,000 for a new electric minibus. He ferries passengers seven hours from Kathmandu to his town, Janakpur, on the Indian border. Ten round trips are enough to cover his monthly loan payments, and he expects to pay off the van in four years. 'It's OK. I'm happy,' Shahi, 43, said while charging the van on a Saturday. 'But the problem is that charging stations are not everywhere.' He also worries how much it will cost to fix the van after the warranty expires, and what will happen when its battery wears out. Loading Businesses and advocates in the country are concerned that Nepal may already be backing off its commitment to the electric transition. The young democracy has had three prime ministers in the past five years, and priorities have shifted with each of them. The nation's central bank doubled down-payment requirements for EVs this year. The federal government, seeing declining revenues from car imports, has been inching up its tariffs on EVs. The government also does not have a plan for the collection or recycling of batteries. And auto dealers worry that faulty vehicles from some of the smaller Chinese brands could discredit the category. They're pushing for an agency that would independently certify safety and quality. Rajan Babu Shrestha holds the licence to distribute cars in Nepal from Indian manufacturer Tata Motors. He has seen sales rocket on his electric models, but he could go back to selling petrol-powered vehicles if tariffs rose or subsidies for charging stations went away. 'It's a very positive direction they are going in, but it really comes down to the long-term policy,' Shrestha said. 'Stability is always a question mark.' EVs for everybody For now, the electric shift in passenger vehicles is moving swiftly. But a vast majority of Nepal's residents don't have cars. Instead, they use cheaper motorbikes or mostly petrol- and diesel-powered buses. If Nepal is to clean its air, it will have to electrify and expand its public transportation fleet as well. Chiri Babu Maharjan is the mayor of Lalitpur, the city across the Bagmati River from Kathmandu. Legions of scooters have made it difficult for vehicles of any kind to get anywhere on the narrow roads. Electric two-wheelers have not gained much traction in Nepal, as they have in India. 'We are trying to reduce fossil fuel vehicles in my town,' Maharjan said. 'This is very difficult, but we must do something.' The solution, he said, was to give his constituents a better alternative. To do that, Maharjan has placed his trust in Sajha Yatayat, a bus company that is mostly owned by the state. Electric buses are expensive, and transit fares in the region are capped at about US36¢ (55¢) for the longest ride. That makes financing the purchases difficult. Nepal's government has stepped in with about $US22 million to buy them. For the past two years, Sajha Yatayat has been running 41 green-painted electric buses. But Kanak Mani Dixit, who until recently served as Sajha Yatayat's chair, thinks about 800 of them are needed to establish a network of routes with enough frequency to replace individual vehicles. China is stepping into this front, too. Recently, the Chinese government offered to give Nepal 100 more 12-metre-long buses at no cost. Dixit acknowledges that China may have its own motivations, such as increasing acceptance of its larger electric models, but he doesn't worry about it. 'We have been accepting foreign assistance since 1950, and this is foreign assistance,' he said. Even with more buses, taming the chaotic scrum of exhaust-spewing motorbikes will require a regional transportation authority that could clear more space for public transit. The agency's creation has been mired in political disagreement, but Dixit hopes it can finally make clean, accessible mobility a reality. 'The Kathmandu Valley is just waiting for someone to turn the key,' Dixit said. 'Coincidentally, this is the time exactly when the electric buses have made an entry. And you could just suddenly find things much different another five years from now.'

Hyundai Inster review finds top contender in compact EV realm

News.com.au

a day ago

News.com.au

Hyundai Inster review finds top contender in compact EV realm

Cheap electric vehicles. For some time that's been an oxymoron. The influx of new Chinese manufacturers and slowing demand has seen the get-in price decline, but now there is a more recognised brand targeting the basement. Hyundai introduced the compact Inster in April that has a range of 327km with a $39,000 retail starting point. That equates to about $43,500 on the road. It's still a steep ask above the BYD Dolphin Essential which is $31,290 drive-away and has a 410km range. There is also the GWM Ora Standard Range which was recently available for $33,990 (310km range), while the MG4 Excite 51 has been down to $37,990 (350km). Hyundai differentiates itself with a strong dealership network and greater brand reputation. Is that enough to sway buyers from the cheaper alternatives? Our family sampled the base model, although there are extended-range derivatives that push the driving capacity to 360km for an extra $3500 along with the 'outdoorsy' Cross version which tops out the Inster range at $45k plus on-roads. What do you get? Plaudits don't much higher than being named 2025 World Electric Vehicle. That included a panel of more than 90 judges from 30 countries who recognised the Inster for its design inside and out. The bare-bones Inster is reflective of its model positioning, with cloth seat trim and liberal use of plastics across the cabin. Raising the quality bar are twin 10.25-inch screens, one a central touchscreen and the other for the driver instruments. Among the other features are a six-speaker stereo with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satnav, along with vehicle-to-load functionality which has a three-pin power point in the front for charging items like laptops, camping equipment, e-scooters and e-bikes. Over-the-air updates can also be undertaken, which means the Inster can get the latest software upgrades without returning to the dealer. That's handy, as servicing is only required every 30,000km or two years. Hyundai offers a prepaid pack of two services for $1310. White, ivory and khaki are all complimentary external colours. Black, yellow and orange add $595. Matt paint options are an extra $1000. Under the floor sits the 42kWh battery, which can be replenished from 10 to 80 per cent using an at-home charger in about four hours. Quicker public chargers would take just under an hour, while a super-fast 120kW one will do it in 30 minutes. We used a standard household power point combined with the provided 10amp charger on our test which proved reasonably quick, taking us from 10-100 per cent in less than 18 hours. How was the drive? Surprisingly adept in varying conditions, a long wheelbase for its size translates to impressive competency on the highway and twisty terrain. On paper the 0-100km/h time of 11.7 seconds looks slow and underwhelming. But the real-world experience is far from pedestrian, with the Inster feeling responsive to acceleration requests and nimble in traffic. Small cars with combustion engines typically feel asthmatic when it comes to hilly terrain, yet the Inster's electric power provided dependable surges up some challenging inclines. Despite its compact dimensions, the Inster has a turning circle of 10.6m. That's better than many vehicles, but given the size it initially felt like it could be tighter (some of our U-turn attempts quickly became three-point turns). Our test saw a thrifty return of 13.2kWh/100km, which was well under the official figure from Hyundai. Most fully electric vehicles we've driven recently are usually well beyond 15kWh/100km. Interior space is also impressive given the dimensions. Four adults can find comfort, with impressive head and knee space for those in the second row. However boot space is limited and we only managed four grocery bags in the boot before requiring the back seat – there is a false floor for additional cargo area. Would you buy one? Kel: Sprightly and distinctive, the Inster regularly induced smiles from onlookers. I enjoyed the drive and loved the exterior styling, especially the circular LED headlights and pixel graphic indicators. The size doesn't suit my demographic, but I could see the appeal for younger EV buyers with $40k to spend or for those who want their second car to be an electric runabout. Grant: When it comes to the bargain basement EVs, you have to look beyond the bottom line. Where the Inster separates itself from the slightly less expensive rivals is performance – it feels more confident and robust on the road than most of the others we have sampled. Sales have been slow and we've seen some Inster demonstrators available with low km for about $37k. For that kind of money it becomes the standout buy in the compact EV realm.

‘Mystifying indignity' of epic fuel saver

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The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

Hyundai Inster review finds top contender in compact EV realm

‘Mystifying indignity' of epic fuel saver

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The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

The country where 76 per cent of cars sold are electric

Hyundai Inster review finds top contender in compact EV realm

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