Electric car sales raise electricity consumption concerns in Kuwait

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The time has come to raise the red flag and openly say that our government should not encourage the sales of electric cars. Using our own generated electricity to power these cars will result in less availability of electricity for domestic consumption.

Our electricity supply is limited, and it reaches its peak during the four to five summer months of peak consumption, often necessitating borrowing from our neighboring countries that face the same kind of heat waves. It is illogical to burden our already limited domestic resources with additional unnecessary consumption.

In Kuwait, the market value for electric cars is expected to reach about $1.2 billion in 2033 from about $52 million last year, with an annual growth of 40 percent. This, of course, does not account for the impact on domestic electricity consumption and the associated costs. Has the government taken into consideration the overall impact of the electric vehicle segment? Should new tariffs or different pricing mechanisms be imposed for electric car usage?

Electric vehicles should be classified as non-essential and must be priced differently, covering the total production cost per kilowatt, and it cannot be considered as a basic need for water and electricity. There is certainly a strong demand for electric cars, from 10 million vehicles in 2022 to 14 million. Their global market share has increased significantly from 4 percent in 2020 to 15-18 percent last year. There seems no end in sight to the growth of the electric vehicle market, with China leading the way, followed by Europe, and the USA in third place.

However, concerns arise regarding the production of batteries for these new vehicles, as China dominates this industry, raising questions about potential monopolization. A more pressing issue is the global availability and accessibility of lithium. While the Earth has approximately 90 million tons of lithium, only about 25 percent is economically viable for battery production.

Until then, oil-producing countries should seriously consider the implications of electric car usage compared to cars that run on petrol. Even though there is no doubt that fossil fuels do harm the environment, efforts should be made to develop technologies that extract CO2 from oil for making it a green fuel. This approach could effectively counter the arguments in favor of electric cars. It will require time, money, capital, and human resources, but we must prioritize saving our electricity for domestic use during the summer heat when temperatures reach 55°C and above. We need spare capacity to cool ourselves and our homes, rather than wasting it on electric cars.

By Kamel Al-Harami
Independent Oil Analyst T

Email: [email protected]

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