UAE: EVs too expensive to buy? Now, affordable electric vehicles will soon be available in the market

Al Futtaim Electric Mobility is looking to tap different price points by offering BYD models, with the Chinese brand seeing strong demand from customers in the pre-sale phase

Ashwani Kumar

Published: Thu 1 Jun 2023, 2:58 PM

Last updated: Thu 1 Jun 2023, 3:41 PM

The UAE’s first-ever e-mobility-focused dealer will start the sale of a diverse range of affordable and premium electric vehicle brands with plans afoot to set up nearly 3,000 charging points by 2030.

Since its launch in mid-March this year, Al Futtaim Electric Mobility has engaged with EV brands like Chinese giant BYD and Swedish brand Polestar.

Hasan Nergiz, managing director, Al-Futtaim Electric Mobility company, said the company is looking to tap different price points by offering affordable BYD models to premium Polestar, with the Chinese brand seeing strong demand from customers in the pre-sale phase.

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“BYD is our mainstream model to democratise the local EV market. We recently launched BYD ATTO3 C-SUV at Dh149,000. It is the most affordable electric SUV you could find,” Nergiz told Khaleej Times in an interview on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Electric Vehicle and Innovation Summit (EVIS) 2023.

BYD is the world’s leading new energy vehicle manufacturer, selling 1.86 million NEVs worldwide last year. Residents can reserve an ATTO3 by paying a deposit of Dh2,000 or opt for financing options starting from Dh1,499 monthly.

“We are lowering the entry barrier to own an EV.”

Hasan Nergiz

Two weeks back, the pre-sale of BYD ATTO3 began at The Zone by Al Futtaim, City Walk in Dubai, and the response, Nergiz said, has been “staggering”.

“We have introduced the brand to the public. We don’t have the models here yet. The official launch is on June 21. Customers can visit www.byduae.ae to register their interest. And to date, the numbers are staggering. We have 85,000 web unique visitors, 2,500 registered leads, and have already sold more than 100 cars. We are seeing unprecedented demand, and every day is another record-breaking day for us.”

Later this year, there will be four more launches with BYD, while one model to be rolled out in September and three more in December.

“So, by the end of the year, we will have five BYD models. We will have four more launches with BYD – a leading electric vehicle manufacturer. This is the reason why we partnered with them. We want to quickly bring as many products as possible to cater to the entire market segment.”

Hasan Nergiz

Last year, Al Futtaim Electric Mobility unveiled Polestar 2 in the market. Nergiz revealed that Polestar 3, 4, 5 and 6 – a mix of SUVs and stylish coupe SUVs will be introduced.

“These are future models, the high-end sports cars, which will be launched in the coming years. These are premium cars.”

Next year, two Polestar SUVs will be launched, 3 and 4, in the local market.

“By mid-year, we will be launching two of them that will be transformational for the eye and SUV market.”

Al Futtaim Finance offers different offers, including Guaranteed Future Value – an auto loan that gives customers the option to renew, return or retain a car.

“Guaranteed Future Value is our most popular finance offering where we can buy back the car at the end of the three-year (finance) term period at an agreed price. Or they can make the final payment and retain the car. This is a unique offering only offered by Al-Futtaim in the region. With this product, customers can have full peace of mind regarding ownership as we are taking the risk on the future resale value. Regardless of what happens in the future, the resale value will not be affected.”

200 charging points and more

Al Futtaim Electric Mobility has partnered with Siemens for Charge2Moov charging stations. “We started with private charging solutions and would like to move to public charging solutions.”

The company mainly focuses on charging solutions in the Dubai Festival City.

“We have installed over 50 of them for all the shopping malls, residential areas, and offices. There are more than 100 to 200 in the plan,” he said, pointing out plans to have 3,000 charging points by 2030.

Two-wheelers by the end of 2023

The company has invested in an electric bike startup in the Indian city of Bengaluru. “We will bring this new product to the UAE, GCC and the rest of the markets.”

The electric two-wheeler pilot phase will begin by the end of this year.

“We would like to bring the first units of electric two-wheelers to start with some pilot cases, do some summer testing, and look at some different use cases.”

Nergiz noted that Al Futtaim Electric Mobility would move into electric vans, buses and trucks.

“The idea is to focus on each mobility mix and channel. We wish to cover all possible customer offerings. We will focus on last-mile e-commerce businesses. We are in talks with a number of local e-commerce providers in the region,” Nergiz added.

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