Electric motorcycles in Iran are sold at four to five times more than the average global prices while the import tariff for electric vehicles (EVs) has been lifted in the country, ISNA reported on Monday.
The real price for a 500 or 1000-kilowatt motorcycle is between $400 and $500 while they are currently sold at between 70 and 80 million rials ($1,966 and $2,250), said Abolfazl Hejazi, the head of the Iranian Motorcycle Association.
He criticized the decision-makers in the industry for not consulting with all the manufacturers, associations, and syndicates across the country. Hejazi predicted that the importers of electric motorbikes, which are mainly commercial companies and not the manufacturers, will have difficulties in providing after-sale support for the customers.
The first Iranian factory to produce electric motorcycles was founded on Kish Island in 2007, but disputes with Kish Customs Office prevented the export of the vehicles to the mainland, according to Hejazi.
Since Iran decided to reduce its reliance on heavily subsidized fossil fuels, through the implementation of the so-called ‘subsidy reform plan’, it has concentrated efforts to put CNG cars and electric vehicles on its roads.
Tehran municipality recently announced plans to bring some 400,000 electric motorcycles and 120,000 hybrid taxis to the streets. The municipality offers 80% of the vehicles’ price in the form of loans with no interest. The buyers will have to clear the debt during a three-year period. But the prices are not still affordable for most motorbike owners.
Demand for electric motorcycles is gradually increasing as the government aims to regulate and decrease motor vehicle pollution in Tehran and other metropolises.
About 800,000 sets of gas motorcycles are sold each year in Iran, and 90% of them are Chinese-made that emit high concentrations of carbon dioxide.
