Not many Bhutanese are keen to purchase electric vehicles despite zero tax imposed. Since its introduction last February, only 45 electric vehicles have been imported as against 6,000 fuel based vehicles imported in the same period of time.
Many people BBS spoke to said electric vehicles are expensive. The cheapest electric car costs a little more than Nu 6,00,000. Some said they were not comfortable with electric vehicles’ battery life.
“Lack of charging points could be one of the reasons why people are not buying electric cars,” said Kelden Lhaden of Thunder Motors. Thunder Motors is one of the dealers of electric vehicles in the country.
She said installing quick chargers involves lengthy procedure with lot of paperwork. Thunder Motors has plans to install quick charging points at different locations.
At the same time, even though the government is encouraging taxi drivers to use the electric vehicles, the Road Safety and Transport Authority has seen only six e-vehicles, registered as taxis.
