A variety of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) and scooter brands such as Letin Mengo, Yadea and Sunra were showcased on Friday in Phnom Penh, attracting hundreds of visitors in Cambodia.
As oil prices have soared, some people in the Southeast Asian country have shifted to using electric cars and scooters because they will save them a lot of money on fuel.
Udom Pisey, an EV manager at the Car4you Co., Ltd., which imports Letin Mengo EVs from China, said using EVs has not only saved money, but also protected clean environment.
"EV prices are similar to those of petrol or diesel vehicles, but the running cost of an EV is much lower than petrol or diesel vehicles," she told Xinhua at the Electric Mobility Showcase 2023 in Phnom Penh.
"Users will save a lot of money because charging an EV is much cheaper than filling petrol or diesel," she added.
Pisey said EVs have very low maintenance costs because they don't have as many moving parts as an internal combustion vehicle.
Ly Na, a sales executive at EVX Auto Company, the exclusive distributor of Made-in-China Sunra scooters in Cambodia, said either electric cars or electric two-wheel vehicles are eco-friendly, reducing air and noise pollution.
"Our sales are quite good as many Sunra scooters have been sold out each month, and I believe that the demand will continue to rise thanks to rising oil prices," she told Xinhua at the expo.
"Sunra scooters are high in quality and their speeds range from 70 kilometers to 135 kilometers based on models," she added.
The one-day event was participated by 19 exhibitors displaying electric cars and scooters made in different countries including Cambodia, China, South Korea and Singapore.
"Electric mobility is the future of sustainable transportation," Andy Chun, managing director of South Korean electric two-wheel vehicle supplier Verywords Co., Ltd., said.
The Cambodian government has been encouraging people to use EVs and electric motorcycles, saying that they are environment-friendly and save users' money.
According to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, some 800 new EVs had been registered in the kingdom as of February 2023, as the number of electric two-wheel vehicles was unavailable.
"The government is committed to having 40 percent of EV cars and 70 percent of electric motorbikes by 2050 in order to reduce carbon emissions," Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol said.
To achieve this target, the government has reduced import duties on electric vehicles since 2021 to nearly 50 percent of taxes on traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, he said, adding that Cambodia also encouraged investments in EV assembling plants.
"This is providing an incentive for people to shift towards electric vehicles," he said.
Chanthol said EVs also have health and environmental benefits through reduced air pollution that would result in public health benefits.
"Moreover, the operating cost of an EV over one kilometer is almost half that of traditional internal combustion engine vehicle," he said.