The Information and Decision Support Center of the Egyptian Council of Ministers highlighted the World Bank’s special report, “The Economics of Electric Vehicles for Passenger Transport,” issued in November 2022, which included a study of 20 developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Oceania, Europe, and South America. Strong economics to expand the shift to electric vehicles in developing countries.
The report said that the environmental benefits associated with reducing local air pollution are more important than those associated with mitigating global climate change in some emerging economies, as the relative importance of local and global environmental benefits of switching to electric transportation varies greatly in low- and middle-income countries, noting that For example, Egypt’s transition to electric transportation will primarily contribute to improving air quality in its urban areas.
The report added that the electrification of transportation is one of the tools needed to put the world on a carbon-neutral path. In developing countries with low emissions, the transition from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles brings additional benefits such as improving air quality, improving the quality of public transport, and reducing dependence on fuel. The importer, and despite these advantages, most of the sales of electric vehicles are still concentrated in the main global markets such as China, Europe and the United States, as these markets account for more than 90% of the fleet of electric vehicles in the world.
The report stated that the cost of purchasing electric vehicles rises by more than 70% compared to conventional vehicles, which is a financial obstacle for many consumers in developing countries, and despite the high costs of purchasing electric vehicles, the savings in fuel and maintenance costs over the life of electric vehicles In many markets it will offset the relatively high purchase price.
The report stated that electric vehicles emit only a small part of local air pollutants, in addition to that these pollutants are usually emitted from power plants, which are usually located in relatively remote locations, and therefore the harm they may cause to human health is much less than it is when Pollution is emitted from the exhaust fumes of cars driving through crowded urban streets.
It is worth noting that the World Economic Forum, in a previous report, had indicated that 99% of the world’s population breathe polluted air, and the report indicated that following the guidelines issued by the World Health Organization, which protect human health and the environment, would reduce deaths by 80%. In addition to saving expenses, as the cost of health damages related to air pollution amounted to about $8 trillion in 2019, which represents about 6.1% of the global gross domestic product, adding that low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of polluted air, with about 91% concentrated. % of premature deaths in these countries are related to air pollutants, and this is due to the large dependence of these countries on old vehicles that run on fossil fuels.
