Conference on electric cars
July 2015
The seminar on electric vehicles organised by the Engineers' Guild of Sri Lanka, jointly with the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA), took place on 15 July 2015 at the OPA Auditorium. Around 125 professionals from many fields attended, reflecting keen interest in the electric car boom that had reached Sri Lanka.
Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka MP, Minister of Power and Energy, addressed the gathering as chief guest and explained the government incentives for electric vehicles. The seminar included two further presentations covering the technical side, the advantages of electric vehicles and the programme to set up rapid charging stations island-wide.
Narada Amaratunga of Autosafe explained that Colombo was the fastest-growing city in Asia for electric vehicle adoption, as shown by Department of Motor Traffic statistics — year-on-year growth of 3,600% in May 2015.
| Month | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 4 | 15 |
| February | 6 | 14 |
| March | 6 | 29 |
| April | 4 | 148 |
| May | 10 | 360 |
Sri Lankan buyers bought 100 all-electric vehicles in 2014. In May 2015 alone they bought 360, led by the Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S and BMW i3, taking the 2015 total to 566 by that point.
Reasons behind the trend
"The big innovation in the LEAF is the affordability and availability of an all-electric but otherwise a very normal car. The LEAF is the first affordable, mass-produced EV with the size, speed and range performance to meet a large percentage of people's driving needs."
The data showed a clear link between government incentives — mainly tax breaks, with the tax on electric vehicles reduced from 25% to 5% in the interim budget — and wider adoption of vehicles that use energy more efficiently and reduce smog. Running costs lower than those of a fossil-fuel car were another reason for the growth.
The main consideration for every potential buyer, he noted, was the availability of charging stations island-wide. On range anxiety, he said it would go away as manufacturers increased range and charging stations became available across the island.
Petrol, hybrid and electric
| 2015 | Petrol | Hybrid | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2,099 | 4,371 | 15 |
| February | 2,042 | 2,819 | 14 |
| March | 3,581 | 2,978 | 29 |
| April | 3,177 | 2,362 | 148 |
| May | 3,475 | 2,731 | 360 |
Hybrid registrations showed only marginal growth from January 2015, while electric registrations grew sharply month on month. The presentations noted that plug-in electric cars offer excellent acceleration, greater convenience and lower long-term costs than petrol or conventional hybrid cars. The seminar closed with a question-and-answer session with the panel.