Qatar aims to produce and export e-buses via Yutong
A total of 1,500 electric buses are to be produced in Qatar within seven years from the end of 2022. These will also be exported to the Middle East, Europe, South America and Africa.
Fahad Saad al-Qahtani, CEO of the public transport operator Mowasalat, told the Arabic daily Arrayah: “In the first phase, we are preparing the framework of the project while the second phase includes design works,” he explained. He said that production will be started by the end of 2022 for the final phase.
The Qatar Free Zones will see the production of 1,500 electric buses within seven years from the end of 2022, Mowasalat (Karwa) CEO Fahad Saad al-Qahtani has said.
“The production shall be increased according to the market demand and the buses will also be exported to the Middle East, Europe, South America and Africa,” he told local Arabic daily Arrayah.
At the end of last year, Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA) signed a multilateral framework agreement with Chinese bus-making giant Yutong and public transport company Mowasalat. Part of this agreement outlines a record order from Mowasalat for Yutong to provide 1,002 buses, including 741 electric buses with the 2022 World Cup in mind.
The deal with Yutong is part of a wider Qatari initiative to ensure that 25 per cent of the public bus network is powered by electricity during FIFA 2022 World Cup with the entire public fleet system expected to be electrified by 2030. The agreement also lays the groundwork to set up a factory to assemble electric buses in Qatar.
The Qatar government has apparently engineered a greater localisation drive to foster the country’s own electric mobility industry. The Yutong deal will also see technology and knowledge transfers so that parts for the electric buses will be manufactured by Qatari firms. These firms are expected to form the foundation of the region’s new electric vehicle industry, with the aim of supplying electric vehicles and parts to markets outside of Qatar.
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