Electric Vehicles

https://archive.is/delyf

Over the past year, electric vehicles accounted for 76 percent of all passenger vehicles and half of the light commercial vehicles sold in Nepal. Five years ago, that number was essentially zero

The swift turnover is the result of government policies aimed at leveraging Nepal’s wealth of hydropower, easing dependence on imported fossil fuels and clearing the smog. It has been fed by an intense push from Nepal’s biggest neighbor, China, the world’s dominant manufacturer of battery-powered vehicles.

A 2015 border skirmish with India squeezed Nepal’s petroleum imports, then its largest energy source. After that, the government invested heavily in hydropower and grid infrastructure that have provided cheap, nonpolluting sources of electricity. Nearly all households now have access, and the rolling blackouts have ended.