The Electric Vehicle Company owned by billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday, April 10 opened its first exhibition rooms in Saudi Arabia rich in oil, where hybrid cars remain a rare view. The opening of the exhibition room in the capital Riyadh, Jeddah and Damam occurs when Tesla’s global sales fall.
According to reports, exhibition rooms in the United States have been attacked, because or left between Musk, the richest person in the world and the president of the United States, Donald Trump. The price of the company’s shares has collapsed since Musk begins to work with the United States government.
“Today we are proud of the official launch in the kingdom,” said Naseem Akbarzada, Tesla country manager for Saudi Arabia, the beginning of a “long -term presence.” He added that the electric car load stations would open since Friday in the three cities where the exhibition rooms had established the leg, with more to follow.
Saudi Arabia is an US regional ally. UU. And Trump forged the nearby ties his first mandate with the heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who has promised to inject $ 600 billion into the trade and investments of the United States. Mainly Saudi young people gathered to look at Tesla cars, even thought that the demand for electric vehicles is low in Saudi Arabia.
The world’s largest oil exporter enjoys fuel prices for gangs with liter or gasoline that costs only 2.33 riyals ($ 0.62). Cheap fuel and prolonged extreme heat periods in the fixed desert country mean that large cars that consume oil reign supreme.
‘We want a factory’
The Saudi economist Mohammed al-Qahtani welcomed the Tesla movement, but urged more efforts of the Musk firm. “We don’t want an exhibition room; we want a factory,” he said. “We want to be part of the production process, not just consumption.”
The lack of load infrastructure and the fixed size of the country means that many Saudi drivers will see the EVs as suitable for shorter trips, instead of replacements for conventional vehicles. Around 950 kilometers (590 miles) separate the capital of the second city of Jeddah, more than the maximum range of most electric car batteries.
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According to the Statista data platform, before the arrival of Tesla, Saudi Arabia had only 101 load stations, compared to 261 in the United Arab Emirates much narrower neighbors. Althegh, the Saudi market of EV is still small, tripled almost 800 cars last year, cordination of business business media Al-iqtisadiyah.
The authorities seek to diversify the economy, which depends largely on oil, with the aim of installing 5,000 electric vehicle loaders by 2030. The Sovereign Fund for Saudi wealth of Saudi Arabia, PIF, now controls 60 percent of the company of Luxury Electric Vehicles Luxury. He has also secured an agreement with Hyundai of South Korea to establish a plant in the kingdom for electric cars and gasoline.
The Saudi Ev Ceer brand, launched in 2022, plans to start production in 2025. A lucid vehicle, which opened a Jeddah factory in 2023 after a Saudi investment of one billion dollars, costs $ 92000.
Last May, the Chinese company Byd opened an exhibition room in Riad, selling more affordable electric cars.
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