Experts believe the conversion of domestic gasoline-powered cars to electric vehicle is more economical than producing a new one.
Earlier, the production of electric cars was touted by several domestic automakers, while some imported electric cars in the form of Complete Knocked-Down kits and tested them.
In the past few years, several electric cars were imported and a number of domestic cars were also electrified, but at the end, nothing substantial came out of it and the production of these cars remained in limbo, the news portal of Donyaye Khodro reported.
Due to the high price of electric vehicles, lack of government subsidies and absence of charging infrastructure, the production of EVs in Iran will not gain momentum anytime soon.
Under the circumstances, the conversion of domestic gasoline-powered cars to electric vehicles is the most cost-effective option for promoting the use of EVs in Iran.
"You replace the engine and gearbox of domestic gasoline cars with batteries and electric motors,” the expert said.
Nafari noted that the body and other equipment of these cars are produced domestically.
“Although electric car batteries must be imported at present, I know that Iran has the technology to produce the engine domestically,” he said.
Hybrid Cars, A Good Option?
Hybrid cars have relatively lower energy consumption compared to gasoline cars, but the cost of maintaining these cars is very high, an automotive expert said.
“The batteries of these cars are also different from the batteries of electric cars and their maintenance expenses are high. Because their battery is being charged and discharged regularly, its battery life declines,” Javad Nafari added.
The expert noted that these batteries are also very expensive and uneconomical, as a result the cost of depreciation and maintenance of hybrid vehicles is much higher than that of electric vehicles.
Nafari noted that hybrid cars’ structures are more complex than EVs.
“If a hybrid car is self-charging, it is charged by the gasoline engine, but if it is a plug-in hybrid, part of the battery is charged by the engine and another part by an external power source.
The number of charges and discharges in hybrid cars is much more than in an EV. This increases the wear and tear of batteries, clutches and couplings of hybrid vehicles.
Therefore, hybrid cars aren’t a good alternative to gasoline cars or EVs, as they are expensive and their maintenance costs are high.
Tara EV Set for March Launch
The industrial model of Tara electric vehicle will be unveiled by the end of the current fiscal year (March 20, 2022), the CEO of knowledge-based company Jetco announced.
Davoud Khosravi, however, stressed that the EV infrastructure should be established first before embarking on its mass production.
The Tara EV pilot, jointly produced by IKCO and Jetco, was unveiled in the current fiscal year’s fourth month (June 22-July 22).
The production of electric vehicles is one of the unfulfilled dreams of domestic automakers, which may come true in the next few months.
Iran Khodro Industrial Group has shown more interest in launching one of its products with electric motors and drivetrains than other domestic automakers. The company had introduced vehicles such as Dena EV or Rana with electric motors, but none of them reached mass production.
In its latest initiatives, IKCO announced the production of an EV prototype for Tara.
“Converting the gasoline-to-electric vehicle platform and designing a specialized EV platform are two known ways of producing an EV and Iran follows the same procedure,” Khosravi was quoted as saying by the news portal of Car.ir.
Jetco’s CEO added that designing a new specialized platform will be expensive and said, “If the electric car is designed and built by modifying the existing platforms for gas-powered cars, it will not cost billions of dollars. This is one of the methods used by Western automakers such as Peugeot, Renault and East Asian automakers for designing and manufacturing EVs.”
He added that this company started producing an EV on IKCO’s latest vehicle platform for Tara, with the aim of reducing production costs by using domestic components.
According to Khosravi, the car’s powertrain, including electric motors, battery pack, drive, charger and converter, have been designed by Jetco’s teams and most of the parts are produced domestically.
“Although some small parts, especially electronic components, are supplied by foreign companies, domestic component manufacturers have placed the production of these parts on their agenda,” he said.
He added that EVs also need infrastructures like fast-charging stations that is not the responsibility of EV automakers.
“EV charging stations should be established nationwide to charge electric cars in 20 minutes. Also, it is necessary to create conditions for owners to charge electric vehicles in their personal parking lots in 5-8 hours,” he said.
The Jetco chief stated that charging stations should be equipped with electricity generators for support during electricity consumption's peak hours and outages. He added that component producers need financial support for assisting EV mass production, which can be provided by banks.
Jetco produces concept cars and has shown that domestic engineers are able to produce EVs, but the infrastructures for mass production should be provided by related organizations.
"Currently, battery packs account for a noticeable share in EV prices and about 35-45% of an electric vehicles' total price pertain to batteries. In every country, the EV buyer receives government subsidies that cover part of the total price. Incentives such as free parking lots and discounts on insurance and taxes for EVS are also provided," Khosravi said.
