2 days ago
- Automotive
- African Manager
Deregulated pricing for electric vehicle charging in Tunisia!
Tunisia aims to reach 50,000 electric vehicles (EVs), 5,000 charging stations and 50MW of installed power by 2030, up from just 500 EVs, 500 charging points, and 5MW by 2025.
To support this transition, the 2024 Finance Law reduces VAT on EVs from 19% to 7%, cuts registration fees by 50%, and halves the annual road tax (vignette).
Fethi Hanchi, Director-General of the National Agency for Energy Management (ANME) affirmed that EV charging prices will be deregulated, meaning the government will not impose fixed rates.
In an interview with AfricanManager, Hanchi explained that charging station installation costs vary by capacity and power type.
For instance a a 100kW fast charger costs 400,000 dinars, while a 22kW standard charger costs under 20,000 dinars.
He emphasized that the state is implementing measures to boost EV adoption and accelerate the energy transition.
70 state-owned companies switch to EVs
ANME has been tasked with procuring EVs for 70 state-owned companies, funded by their own budgets with support from the Energy Transition Fund. Each vehicle will cost around 75,000 dinars and a tender will be launched soon.
New technical specifications finalized
On another hand, he stated that a new regulatory framework for charging stations is in its final stages, developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders. This will allow entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in charging infrastructure.
Hanchi added that gas stations will also be permitted to install EV chargers under revised regulations to be published soon.
Moreover, following discussions between the Ministry of Trade and the **Ministry of Industry and Energy, EVs have been excluded from import quotas; with a dedicated quota system to help dealers better assess market demand.
Survey: 20% of Tunisians considering EVs
A survey by **Emrhod Consulting** revealed that '20% of Tunisians are willing to buy an EV in the near future.
It also revealed that nearly 29% plan to purchase a car (new or used) in 2025.
The survey among a representative sample of the Tunisian population was conducted to gauge their perceptions of and expectations for the sector. The results revealed that 47% of respondents would opt for a combustion engine, 17% for a plug-in hybrid vehicle, and 14% for an electric vehicle.
According to this survey, purchase price is the main factor influencing vehicle choice, at 49%. This is followed by fuel consumption (47%), aesthetics and design (33%), the availability of spare parts (32%), and maintenance costs (31%).
In terms of preferred body types, saloons remain the most popular choice (45%), followed by sports utility vehicles (31%) and compact city cars (15%).
The survey also found that 80% of respondents take maintenance costs into account when purchasing a vehicle.
Finally, 75% of those surveyed said that the country of origin of the vehicle was important to them (40% considered this criterion very important and 35% considered it fairly important).
New measures to encourage electric mobility by 2030
Secretary of State to the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy in charge of Energy Transition, Wael Chouchane, stressed that regulatory, pricing, technical, institutional and economic measures have been developed to promote electric cars in Tunisia.
He confirmed that, at a regulatory level, the decision had been made to consider the charging of electric vehicle batteries as a 'service' for which electricity is one of the various inputs.
He said that a draft decree had been prepared to this effect, enabling all aspects of the recharging service to be organized in accordance with a set of specifications.
Regarding the regulatory framework, Chouchane said that the standard relating to the nomenclature of Tunisian activities had been updated to include the recharging of electric vehicle batteries, and that a decree updating the NT120 standard was currently being adopted.
He also announced that the Department of Industry is developing a national electric mobility strategy to promote improved energy performance in the transport sector and reduce its carbon footprint.
This strategy will define clear objectives regarding the number of electric cars and charging points in line with the national energy transition, ecological transition and low-carbon development strategies.
He pointed out that the transport sector in Tunisia is the biggest consumer of energy, accounting for around one-third of final energy consumption and over 50% of petroleum product consumption.
