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In the Middle East, where "refueling a car is cheaper than drinking water", the obsession with fuel vehicles has begun to fade, and the development of electric vehicles is entering the "fast lane". In April this year, CEER, Saudi Arabia's first new energy vehicle brand company, reached a cooperation agreement with a Chinese company on the construction of an electric vehicle manufacturing plant project. In May, Adnoc Distribution, the largest fuel retailer in the UAE and the fuel retail subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said it would double the number of its electric vehicle charging stations within the year. Overall, the prospects for large-scale deployment of transportation electrification in the Middle East are promising.

In April this year, China Metallurgical Corporation Saudi Arabia Branch and Modern Building Leaders, a local leading contractor in Saudi Arabia, signed a subcontract contract for the supply and installation of steel structures for the Saudi CEER electric vehicle manufacturing plant project. The project construction includes 5 production workshops, 13 supporting buildings, a total of 18 units, and the structural form is mainly multi-story and single-story plant structures, covering a total area of ​​600,000 square meters.

CEER is Saudi Arabia's first local brand of new energy electric vehicles and an important part of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030". It is expected to start selling electric vehicles in 2025. The company said that electric vehicles are already available in major cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah, but large-scale promotion will still take some time.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest $50 billion in the next 10 years to promote electric vehicle production. It is expected that by 2030, electric vehicles will account for at least 30% of the vehicles in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The latest research by AlixPartners, a US consulting management company, found that 70% of Saudi respondents were interested in owning electric vehicles and were willing to try them, and 93% of Saudi respondents were interested in both pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. It is expected that by 2035, the proportion of Saudi car owners who choose to buy electric vehicles is expected to reach 85%.

It is worth mentioning that Saudi consumers have the highest awareness of Chinese electric vehicle brands. 93% of Saudi respondents are familiar with at least one Chinese brand, and BYD ranks at the top in electric vehicle brand awareness.

The UAE also highly recognizes Chinese electric vehicles. As one of the earliest countries to introduce Chinese electric vehicles, the country has long started cooperation with Chinese electric vehicle companies. The UAE's National newspaper pointed out that Chinese electric vehicles are of high quality, advanced technology, and can adapt to various road conditions and climatic conditions. They have been very popular among Middle Eastern consumers in the past two years.

By 2023, the UAE will rank first in the Middle East in terms of electric vehicle development, with a market share of 40% in the Middle East. The UAE strongly supports electric vehicles, formulates relevant development strategies, provides incentives, builds charging infrastructure on a large scale, and strengthens the supervision and standardization of charging piles.

It is reported that the UAE government is working with the private sector to seek to establish a nationwide charging station network to provide more convenient and safe charging services for electric vehicles.

According to the UAE's Electric Vehicle Strategy 2030, the UAE will vigorously promote the popularization and application of electric vehicles and reduce dependence on traditional fuels. The goal is to increase the proportion of electric and hybrid vehicles to 50% by 2050, which is only 1% at present.

"We are working hard to make electric vehicles one of the sustainable mobility solutions," said Bader Al Lamki, CEO of Adnoc Distribution. "Currently, we have charging stations on major highways and residential areas in the UAE, striving to make charging accessible."

A document recently submitted by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange showed that as of the first quarter, Adnoc Distribution had 89 charging stations.

The Middle East is a gathering place for traditional oil-producing countries, but as the world accelerates its green transformation, the perception of electric vehicles has changed in recent years. Guided by policy mechanisms and the increasing environmental awareness of consumers, electric vehicle sales in the Middle East have increased significantly.

Arab News Network wrote that:Although the electric vehicle market in the Middle East is still in its infancy, as the region's acceptance of electric vehicles increases, the pace of transition from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles is also accelerating, driving the planned electrification of transportation in the Middle East to accelerate.。

Tom Lee, managing director of MG Middle East, a British automaker, said: "Electric vehicles are experiencing overall growth in the Middle East, especially in terms of infrastructure, which is mainly driven by economic reforms in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE."

Mordor Intelligence, an international market research and consulting company, predicts that the electric vehicle market in the Middle East and Africa will be worth approximately US$3.33 billion in 2024 and will reach US$9.42 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 23.20% between 2024 and 2029.

By 2023, the share of pure electric vehicles in the Middle East will reach 70%, mainly due to the incentives for pure electric vehicles from governments in the region, including free parking, free charging, free registration and road tax.

The industry believes that as electric vehicles are increasingly popularized in the Middle East, the brands and types of vehicles will become more diverse, including sedans, SUVs, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. At the same time, the types and specifications of charging piles will also become more diverse, including public charging stations, home charging piles, commercial charging piles, etc.

To better promote the electrification of transportation, Middle Eastern countries are also strengthening cooperation with international companies and institutions to introduce and develop more efficient, safer and smarter new energy electric vehicles and charging pile technologies, including solar charging piles, wireless charging technology, electric vehicle networking technology, electric vehicle autonomous driving technology, etc.