The EV Revolution Comes To Nepal

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On May 29, 1953, New Zealand explorer Edmund Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain above sea level. Everest is part of the Himalayas, a mountain range that forms most of the border between Nepal and Tibet — an area that is sometimes referred to as the “roof of the world.” You might think of it as a place with an abundance of sparkling clean air, but in its capital city of Kathmandu (also known as Katmandu), heavy smog from vehicles and commercial activities is leading to the deaths of many of its citizens.

Air pollution in Nepal is having a devastating effect on its population, accounting for nearly 19% of all deaths in 2021, according to an analysis by the State of Global Air. Nepal’s capital is regularly ranked among the world’s most polluted cities, with pollution from fine particulate matter often 10 to 20 times the World Health Organization’s guidelines. If Nepal could reduce particulate pollution to the level recommended by the World Health Organization, people living in Kathmandu could expect to live 2.6 years longer.

The Kathmandu valley is cloaked for much of the year in thick smog from brick kilns, road and construction dust, burning rubbish and crops, and emissions from the 1.75 million vehicles — 80% are two-wheelers — that clog the city’s streets. Think of Los Angeles in the 1950s if you are trying to visualize what life in Kathmandu is like today. “Our analysis shows that transport contributes to about one-fourth of the fine particle matter air pollution in the valley,” says David Sislen, the World Bank’s country director for Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. “Motorists switching to EVs is an important part of getting towards cleaner skies and improved health.”

Nepal has access to abundant hydro power, thanks to all the water rushing down the slopes of the Himalayas, boosted in part by the melting of ice packs as average global temperatures soar to unprecedented new levels. That’s the bad news. The good news is that more than 70% of new four-wheeled passenger vehicles — including mini buses — in 2024 were battery-electrics. That is one of the highest rates of EV adoption of any nation in the world, exceeded only by Norway.

While the total numbers are small in comparison to other countries like China or India, the message is still a powerful one. Internal combustion engines are a threat to human health, while electric vehicles can help people live longer. Between July, 2023 and July, 2024, more than 13,000 electric vehicles were imported to Nepal. During the same period between 2020 and 2021, only 250 were imported. The government of Nepal has set an ambitious target for the adoption of electric vehicles. It wants 90% of all private vehicle sales and 60% of all four-wheeled public passenger vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.

Air Pollution In Nepal

The increasing popularity of EVs has raised hopes that they may help to reduce the chronic air pollution that has plagued Kathmandu for years. Krishna Prasad Chaulagain, a bus driver in Kathmandu, told The Guardian he was excited to be picking up his new electric car at a local dealership. “I don’t have to go to the petrol pump any more,” he said. At a local BYD showroom, Binaya Parajuli is about to pick up his new electric car.“These days the best option is an EV. Petrol is expensive and the price fluctuates a lot. The price of electricity is stable and nowadays we have no shortage of it. And I’m also making a small contribution to the environment.” He also said he was attracted by the look of the car at a time when EVs have become a status symbol. “These cars are luxurious, even if our roads are not,” he said.

Cost savings are the main reason for the rise in interest in electric cars, says the sales manager, Loozah Maharjan. “Import taxes on EVs are lower than on petrol cars, running costs are a 10th of the price and banks offer generous finance deals for EVs,” he said. In other words, if you live in Nepal, buying a conventional car makes no sense at all. And yet, the environmental and health benefits of the transition to EVs will remain limited until the most polluting vehicles — diesel buses and trucks — also become electric, says Bhushan Tuladhar, an environmental activist. “There are three reasons this has not taken off. One, the initial cost of purchasing electric buses; second, the lack of charging infrastructure; and third, the public transport system is chaotic.”

The EV Revolution Is Happening

Yet there are signs that these things are changing. In his role as a board member of Sajha Yatayat, a co-operative bus company, Tuladhar helped to import 40 electric buses from China. They are now in operation everywhere in Kathmandu, where they run alongside hundreds of electric two- and three-wheeled vehicles that were first introduced to the city 30 years ago. Hundreds more electric mini buses now are serving local communities outside of Kathmandu, particularly on the narrow, twisting roads through the mountains to the southern plains which larger buses struggle to negotiate.

At a charging station on the edge of the Kathmandu valley, Krishna Prasad Chaulagain told The Guardian the electricity he needs to recharge his vehicle is a tiny fraction of the what he used to spend for diesel fuel. The time it takes to charge his minibus does not seem to bother him. “It means I get some rest,” he says.

Even if Nepal does manage to electrify its public transport system, Maheshwar Dhakal, head of the government’s climate change management division, warns that more needs to be done. “The growth in EVs in Nepal is remarkable,” he says. “But if we become carbon neutral tomorrow, it doesn’t make sense at a global scale. The international community must follow our lead.”

And yet, as Nepal struggles to overcome the scourge of fossil fuels, the United States, which could be leading the way to a more sustainable world, is cowering behind new tariff walls that will marginalize its influence on the world community. At a time when leadership is called for, America has abdicated its position as a leader to satisfy the farcical ambitions of its president who is behaving more like the leader of a clown show that the head of a major nation. He doesn’t care a flying fig what Nepal is doing because it is one of more than 100 nations the Moron of Mar-A-Loco refers to as “shithole countries.” Sadly, that is precisely what the United States is about to become under his care and guidance.