China Delivers 30 Electric Buses to Pakistan

­The PRC’s biggest exporter of buses and coaches just delivered a number of electric buses to a country (and part of the world) not traditionally associated with EVs.

Pakistan’s history with EVs has been shaky at best. With domestic crude oil production satisfying a mere 15% of its internal demand (for reference, the U.S. produces about 65% domestically), you’d think Pakistan would’ve jumped on the electric hype train, and harder, sooner. Not so...

Pakistan’s 2019 National Electric Vehicle Policy decreed that by 2030, EVs should make up 30% of new car and heavy truck sales, and 50% of sales for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and buses.

But the country has struggled to move the needle towards its own targets, and there’s been barely any domestic action or international cooperation (with a few key exceptions).

China’s superstar EV company, Build Your Dreams, whose subsidiary, BYD Auto, is the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, announced an agreement with local Pakistani partner Mega Conglomerate Pvt. Ltd. back in March. But even then, progress has been slow, and it doesn’t help that most Pakistanis apparently can’t afford BYD’s more high-end vehicles.

Enter Higer, which previously did business with Pakistan for hybrid and diesel buses.

Back in January, Higer shipped 160 “high end” electric buses (worth about $23 million) from the Suzhou Industrial Park in China to Pakistan. And 30 of those buses recently arrived in Islamabad.

And while Higer was mum on details, the buses apparently adhere to a “classic bus style,” with an interior height of more than 2.3 meters, low entrances and a large passage, 24 passenger seats and 2 folding seats in the wheelchair area, and the vehicle can carry more than 45 passengers. Its range is just north of 250 km.

Not sure if 160 electric buses will bring about revolutionary changes in transportation, but it’s a step in the right direction.