Saudi Arabia plans to enter the electric car market to become the biggest rival to traditional automakers

The oil giant, Saudi Arabia and other countries are planning to start manufacturing electric cars and gain prominence in the market.

Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt, countries usually associated with oil production, have ambitious plans to become major producers of electric vehicles. As the shift towards electrification of cars is gaining momentum, these countries want to advance in the field of electric mobility.

Saudi Arabia aims to reach production of 150 electric cars by 2026

A saudi arabiaa, as the largest oil producer in the world, at first glance would not be one of the best candidates to move forward with electric vehicles, however this Gulf country is one of the most ambitious in this sector.

In 2018, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia supported the electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors with investments of one billion Euros and, in return, the North American brand committed to installing a new factory in Saudi Arabia. Since then, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, has launched the first electric vehicle assembly plant in the country, called Ceer.

The automaker aimed to design, market and produce saloons and SUVs. This entity also received funding from the country's Public Investment Fund, this time alongside industry giants such as Foxconn and the use of technology from BMW.

The two investments are essential for the giant company in oil production to reach the objective of 150 electric cars produced by 2026. In the meantime, incentives were introduced to replace fleets of combustion vehicles with electric ones, as well as the renewal of the fleet of buses with green engines.

Türkiye bets heavily on the production of electric cars

While the oil giant Saudi Arabia's market is still only made up of imported electric cars, Turkey is already the 13th world producer of cars, with the presence of important brands in the country such as Ford, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Fiat and Renault. In this way, the transition to the manufacture of electric cars is already underway.

Ford Motor Co. and Koç Holding are responsible for the production of the E-Transit and have plans to launch next year the new generation of the Transit Custom, which will also have an all-electric version. Electric car maker Togg, meanwhile, plans to produce 175 mid-size SUVs a year.

However, according to the businessman from Istanbul and co-investor in the concession of the prototype of the electric model, Kaan Kursun, the Togg brand is closely associated with the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking to VOA News, he lamented that the new model was being marketed as President Erdogan's car and had doubts whether his appeal would go further.

Egypt's plans are also ambitious

Likewise, Egypt's ambitions surpass those electric vehicle imports. President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi stated in early 2022 that he was personally committed to producing electric cars in the country. There are already plans to start production of the Cadillac Lyriq at a factory in Egypt by the end of this year and the establishment of partnerships with Chinese automakers is also on the table.

The wishes of the President of Egypt are being accompanied by the expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric cars in the country. More fast charging stations were added to the country's network of 440 charging points when it hosted the 27th United Nations Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh this year.

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