News ID: 2055
Publish Date : 03 March 2018 - 09:15

Best for Iran Car Market: Hybrids, EVs or FCVs?

Hybrid cars are the pioneers of green cars in the world and during the recent years, they entered Iran market and it is expected to gain a remarkable market share in Iran.
Khodrocar – It seems that the end of internal combustion engines are near and car companies are moving toward producing green vehicles like hybrid and electric vehicles. Limited resources of fossil fuels and emissions are the reason for this phenomenon.

Few years ago, Iran welcomed the hybrid cars and these days they could be seen in the streets.

Totally, there are three type of green vehicles: Hybrids (HEV and PHEV), Electric Vehicles (EV) and Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV). The hybrids has the most share of the global market among these three.

Now the main question is that which type of these green cars are the best for Iran’s car market? Does the country has the infrastructures for these cars?

Javad Nafari, an automotive industry expert, told Khodrocar regarding the issue: "Among the three types of green vehicles, hybrid are the most common and they have a major share of green car market in the world. Hybrids are divided into two categories: "Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).”

He continues: "Currently, HEV vehicles are the best for our market because they don’t need any special infrastructure. They recharge themselves and uses both electric and gasoline engines, and this way they reduce emission. They are also able to use only the electric engine which the emission is zero.”

The automotive industry expert emphasizes: "Better pricing and tariffs can enthusiast the customers to but hybrid vehicles. This way we can transfer their technology into our country and reduce the emissions.”

The other type is Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) which can be plugged to electricity of the city. These vehicles also have a good share of global markets.

However, the issue is that these type of hybrids needs charging stations, which do not exist in Iran. Javad Nafari believes: "The next step is to import PHEVs but it is important to provide the necessary infrastructures. These vehicles need charging stations.”

He also talks about EVs and FCVs: "Currently, it is impossible to think about importing electric and fuel cell vehicles. For example, absence of infrastructures in the country and high electricity consumption are the problems of EVs.”

It seems that the automotive industry is moving toward producing green cars and in the next few years, our country will have to build infrastructures for importing or even manufacturing electric vehicles. But no action has been taken so far which is a little worrying.


Khodrocar Reporter and Translator: Maziyar Jafarieh