While Kuensel’s regular coverage of the government’s EV project is appreciated, the vast majority of EV owners in Bhutan, which are privately owned and not taxis, are almost never mentioned.
We were one of the first companies to introduce EVs for the mass consumer market in Bhutan in 2014 with the Nissan Leaf and have gone through ups and downs of the EV experience in Bhutan so far.
Some have owned their Leafs for the last 9 years and have barely had to visit the workshop for service.
Also concerns initially expressed 9 years ago about the life of the EV battery and the replacement costs have been effectively done away with since the EV owners are still driving their vehicles today.
Our customers have been sharing these experiences by word of mouth with friends and family and the negative perception of EVs have slowly changed to positive.
Already with the government EV project’s much appreciated efforts with installation of both DC fast chargers and AC Chargers, EV driving within western Bhutan is easily possible today.
The manufacturer claims of higher range have to be tempered by our mountainous terrain which was another learning experience.
As diesel prices continue to rise with a concurrent rise in the price of essential goods, shifting to electric cargo transport could reduce overall inflation for essential goods which impacts the poorest the hardest.