High fuel prices accelerate demand for electric cars, says stakeholder

AMMAN — Demand for electric cars has skyrocketed with a 40 per cent increase since the beginning of 2022. 

“The increase in demand is due to the global increase in fuel prices,” Salameh Jabali, a representative of the vehicle and vehicle spare parts sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC), told The Jordan Times. 

Jabali said that since January 2022, almost 6,000 electric vehicles have been customs-cleared.

Mohammad Bustanji, director general of Jordan Free Zone Investors Commission, noted that this demand is expected to continue to increase throughout the year.

From January to May of this year, 5,250 electric cars were cleared, compared with 6,169 gasoline-run cars, Bustanji said, noting that in the period between June 1 and June 18, a total of 1,050 electric cars were cleared.

Bustanji attributed the increase in demand for electric cars to the government's decision of allowing car dealers to import from China, in addition to the 10 per cent additional tax that the government imposed on hybrid cars. 

“The increase in price of cars’ spare parts is global,” Bustanji noted. 

In the local market, the cost of spare parts has increased between 15 to 20 per cent, according to Jabali.

Jabali added that the price of imported electric car parts is affected by the global price increase as well. 

“Purchasing power for car parts has dropped by almost 50 per cent for both new and pre-owned cars,” Jabali said. 

Jabali urged car parts suppliers and distributers to reconsider the profit structure of pre-owned and new vehicles’ parts. 

“The profit rate ranges around 35 per cent for used cars and 25 per cent for new cars,” Jabali said.  

However, Bustanji said that electric car parts are expensive due to the manufacturing cost and stressed that spare parts for newly manufactured electric cars are available in the local market. 

Meanwhile, Seedra, who is a sales person at a cars showroom in Amman, said that the demand for electric cars have increased “dramatically” due to the ongoing increase in fuel prices.