TEHRAN – Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Abbas Ali-Abadi has said currently three models of electric vehicles have been manufactured in the country which will come to the market in the first half of the next Iranian calendar year (starting in late March 2024), Tasnim News Agency reported.

“We have two or three examples of domestic electric cars that may be released in the first half of next year,” Ali-Abadi told the press on Saturday.

According to the official, the government also plans to supply 100,000 electric taxis in big cities by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.

Back in August, Ali-Abadi said that Iranian automotive companies had accelerated their plans to manufacture electric cars.

The official said, however, that the country would not wait for a scale-up in domestic manufacturing of EVs, adding that imports would also increase to respond to the growing demand for such vehicles in the country.

He noted that Iran’s energy sector stands to benefit from the expansion of EV infrastructure, adding that using EVs would also be very economical for Iranian motorists.

Earlier in March 2022, an Iranian automotive company unveiled the first all-electric vehicle (EV) in the country under the commercial name of Oxygen.

KSJ Motors, a company based in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, unveiled the car in a ceremony attended by senior government and industry officials.

In February 2023, Iran's MAPNA group, which is a group of Iranian companies involved in implementing major industrial projects, announced a plan for building 20 electric vehicle charging stations across Iran.

The mentioned stations would be launched in public places such as shopping centers, public parking lots, accommodation centers such as hotels and guesthouses, intercity resorts, entertainment centers, gas stations, and roadside parks, the company said.

EF/MA