DUBAI 28 March 2017: The Dubai Government has gone on a high speed promotion of electric and hybrid cars that use clean fuel. It has set up a 100 charging stations across the emirate and aims to double the number.
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority is even offering free charging till the end of the year [see below].
But what is the rate for charging your green car? Is it cheaper than petrol or not?
Well, Dubai Government has identified the rate per kilowatt hour (kW/h) for public charging of an electric vehicle as 29 fils per kW/h.
“This figure constitutes significant savings for electric car owners, compared with those that use fuel,” says Saeed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).
“For example, a Renault electric car can be charged for a full hour for a cost of only Dh7, and you can drive it for 130 km and can reach the same speeds as conventional cars. The larger the size of the battery the more time is needed to charge the battery, lengthening the distance that can be driven by a car during one charging cycle,” Al Tayer added.
His numbers give a fuel efficiency of Dh0.18 per kilometre. This you will need to compare with the fuel efficiency of your car by dividing the number of kilometres your car runs on a full tank of petrol by the cash paid to fill the tank.
Charging Stations
Dewa) will double its electric vehicles charging stations to 200 across Dubai to complete the second phase of the Green Charger initiative.
Dewa is setting up different types of charging stations, including fast-charging stations installed at petrol stations that take 20-40 minutes.
These stations have 3 different plugs – one with a capacity of 48 kilowatts (kW) for Alternating Current (AC), CHAdeMO plugs, and Combo plugs with a capacity of 50kW of Direct Current (DC).
Medium-charging stations installed at shopping malls, parks, and Dubai Government customer service centres take 2-4 hours. The stations feature two plugs, each with a capacity of 22kW. Wall-charging stations with a capacity of 22kW for AC will take 2-4 hours to charge.
The move complements Dewa’s efforts to reduce air pollution and protect the environment from the impact of the transport sector in the emirate.
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– By Rajive Singh