Business Case and Policy Assessment for Electric Mobility

With strong economic growth in recent years, the number of vehicles has been growing rapidly in Cambodia. In 2016, more than 3.2 million vehicles were registered. Motorcycles accounted for 2.7 million vehicles of the total registered vehicles. Vehicle registration has grown at a rate of 14% from 2015 to 2016. In 2015, the transport sector represented over 45% of final energy consumption in Cambodia, entirely from imported petroleum products. As there is no domestic fuel source, the country fully relies on imports. Considering that much of the petroleum products are consumed in transport, there is high potential for positive climate change impact by switching conventional vehicles to greener alternatives. Transitioning away from ICEs (Internal Combustion Engine) to EVs (Electric Vehicles) will contribute to reducing GHG emissions in the congested urban area, together with significant co-benefits such as improvement in air quality, reduction of noise, and positive impacts on public health. Electric motorcycles with a lithium-ion battery are currently more expensive to purchase than gasoline motorcycles, but their total cost of ownership including lifetime operating costs is often lower than that of gasoline motorcycles. This implies that the adoption of electric motorcycles could be accelerated with the right set of supporting policies, if incentive mechanisms are provided to consumers to lessen the burden of higher purchase costs and if consumers’ uncertainty about the performance of electric motorcycles is eased through awareness programs.