Saudi Arabia’s electric vehicles sector continues to surge forward, accelerating the sustainable growth of the transportation sector.
The Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center hosted the 3rd edition of the EV Auto Show 2024 from September 17 to 19 highlighting the remarkable success of the electric car sector and Saudi Arabia’s transformation towards clean energy.
Rapid Development
During the event, Arab News held an interview with Gary Flom, president and CEO of National Transportation Solutions Co (NTSC), in which he commended the Kingdom’s rapid development, noting that it has achieved in five years what took the US 25 years.
“The speed of progress here is like light speed,” Flom said.
“Everything here is accelerated — maybe 10 times when you look at Europe or the United States,” he added.
Diversified Economy
Since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom has embarked on a wild journey to establish a comprehensive EV ecosystem aimed basically at diversifying its economy and decreasing reliance on oil.
Consequently, the Kingdom has set an ambitious objective to electrify 30% of vehicles in Riyadh by 2030.
Therefore, the government is significantly investing in EV infrastructure, including public charging stations and policies favorable to EV adoption.
Several Partnerships
In order to accelerate the EV’s progress, the Kingdom is widely collaborating with international partners to build an EV supply chain in order to secure raw materials for batteries and boost manufacturing capabilities.
The executive explained that despite the difficulties in transforming the passenger vehicle market, he is optimistic about the advancements in the commercial sector.
“It’s a lot easier to decarbonize the commercial sector because we know what the customer does. We know where the vehicle goes, where it lives, and the payload it carries. We know how to design the charging infrastructure for it,” Flom said.
Decarbonization Roadmap
Flom also indicated that NTSC has launched its decarbonization roadmap, a comprehensive plan aims to assist government and private fleet operators in transitioning from internal combustion engine fleets to electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Designed to measure the carbon baseline of fleets, the roadmap provides the necessary ecosystem for charging infrastructure and manages the maintenance of electric commercial vehicles using advanced software.
“Our decarbonization Roadmap gives government fleets and private fleets a cost-effective, organized way to transition from ICE fleets to new energy fleets,” Flom said.
“We give them this plan over the next few years on how to decarbonize their fleet. And also, we give them the accredited carbon reduction data so they can actually use it to trade carbon credits when that becomes available in Saudi Arabia,” he added.
The CEO also mentioned that decarbonizing the passenger vehicle sector faces more challenges due to the variability in individual vehicle use.
Expected Expansion
Flom concluded by stating the company’s future goal of becoming a regional leader in sustainable transportation, planning to export its expertise, roadmap, and technologies to the broader Middle East and North Africa region. “NTSC will become not only the leader for fleet management and sustainable multi-modal mobility, but we also look to export the same outside of Saudi Arabia,” Flom added.
EV Auto Show 2024
In line with Saudi Vision 2030, the event stands as a testament to the Kingdom’s commitment to securing a sustainable future in the transportation sector.
The 3rd edition boasted the participation of more than 70 leading local and international companies and approximately 60 speakers, who will discuss the latest developments in electric car technologies, batteries and renewable energy.
The exhibition represented a valuable platform and one of the Kingdom’s largest events in the field of electric cars offering several displays and workshops on the infrastructure of electric cars and its cutting-edge technologies.
With a special focus on modern mechanisms in sustainable transportation infrastructure, the event involved a series of activities designed to promote the use of clean energy to combat climate change.
The event also provided an interactive environment for all people to know about these technologies through live shows and interactive experiences.
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