About 40% of Pakistan’s gasoline is used to fuel the country’s 30 million two- and three-wheel rickshaws.
Activist Mehwish Qureshi, 33, rides her electric motorcycle in Hyderabad, Pakistan, April 2, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
Days after Iran effectively blocked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz following the start of US and Israeli attacks in late February, two Pakistani electric motorcycle sales outlets 1,400 km (875 miles) away found themselves inundated with inquiries.
Haseeb Bhatti, who equips gasoline bikes with battery-powered motors in the northern city of Rawalpindi, said his sales in March jumped 70%. For Ali Gohar Khan, owner of a 7-year-old electric motorcycle retail franchise with branches across Pakistan, the recent increase in sales is the highest on record.
“People are afraid that maybe in the near future they won’t have access to gasoline,” Khan said.
The crisis in the Middle East has sent global fuel prices soaring, worsening the suffering of Pakistanis already hit by inflation and the post-pandemic economic slowdown. While the country imports almost all of its oil via the Strait of Hormuz, rumors of shortages have spread despite government guarantees of supply.
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About 40 percent of Pakistan’s gasoline is used to fuel the 30 million two- and three-wheel rickshaws that dominate the roads of a country where cars are a luxury and public transportation is inadequate.
Industry officials and analysts expect the crisis to fuel a rush toward electric vehicles in Pakistan, which would stand out from a broader regional push for the availability of cheap and abundant solar power to charge e-bikes. A change would also help reduce oil imports, strengthen foreign exchange reserves and significantly reduce emissions in the world’s most polluted country in 2025.
After the government’s 18% price hike last week, a Pakistani household earning the median wage now pays 31% of their daily income for a liter of gasoline – more than all but 22 countries out of 139 tracked by globalpetrolprices.com and Our World in Data.
“My monthly salary is Rs 30,000. With this, I can barely cover the expenses of my family of six. How am I supposed to fill my bike?” said Zahoor Ahmed, a security guard in the southern city of Karachi.
From professionals to students, more and more drivers have turned to electric vehicles in recent months. Last year, rising gasoline prices increased electric vehicle sales nearly threefold, to 90,000 units, or 5% of all two-wheelers sold, according to data from consultancy Renewables First.
This year, electric vehicles accounted for more than 10% of monthly two-wheeler sales for the first time, said Talha Khan, CEO of electric vehicle logistics planning firm Orko, a transition he hopes to accelerate because refueling with conventional fuel can be up to 10 times more expensive than recharging.
“Keeping inflation and fuel prices in mind, I took matters into my own hands and bought an electric scooter,” said Mehvish Qureshi, a lawyer from south Hyderabad.
Generous grants and interest-free loans
A typical electric two-wheeler costs around 250,000 rupees, more than half of Pakistanis’ annual per capita income and 56% more than the popular gasoline-powered Honda CD 70, which costs around 160,000 rupees.
In February, the government’s Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification (PAVE) plan came into effect, providing a subsidy for a fifth of the price and interest-free loans for the rest. The plan targets electric bikes and auto rickshaws.
It has already received around 270,000 applications, almost seven times the target for the first phase of PAVE ending in June, said Adnan Pasha, an advisor to the Ministry of Finance. Reutersadding that the government aimed to fund 2 million electric vehicles over five years and fund the plan with existing levies on fuel sales.
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“Electrifying just 2 million vehicles could result in annual savings of almost half a billion dollars, because we don’t need to import this fuel,” Pasha said.
Many Pakistanis have turned to solar power after IMF-imposed electricity tariff hikes in 2023, snapping up cheap Chinese-made panels for their homes. The government now wants to capitalize on this boom to stimulate the growth of electric vehicles.
“Using solar energy can reduce electricity costs at charging stations and make home charging more affordable,” Pasha said.
Ammar Habib, advisor to Pakistan’s energy minister, said electric vehicles were also “perfect for the grid, as the constant demand for electric vehicle charging will alleviate some of the daytime volatility linked to the oversupply of solar power.”
Chinese players at the heart of the EV shift
Like its solar revolution, Pakistan’s adoption of electric two-wheelers relies on Chinese brands. Scooter makers such as Yadea and Jinpeng, as well as locally assembled e-bikes with batteries and components from companies such as AIMA and Sunra, are expected to meet the growing demand.
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD, which has partnered with Pakistan’s HUBCO Green to build charging stations across the country, said it plans to support broader electrification to ultimately sell more passenger cars.
Pasha said the government wanted local businesses to build charging stations and said he expected the 45% reduction in electricity rates for charging stations last year to continue to drive adoption.
However, financial incentives could come under strain if the war drags on, while a lack of local expertise and difficult-to-scale charging infrastructure pose other risks to Pakistan’s electric vehicle transition, said Ahtasam Ahmad, head of energy finance at Renewables First.
Good maintenance networks are essential because electric vehicles are more susceptible to potholes, which are common on South Asian roads. In neighboring India, riding e-scooters on poorly maintained roads has caused significant service delays.
“When Chinese players flood the market, it may look promising on paper, but with virtually no after-sales service infrastructure, they risk eroding consumer confidence in the technology,” Ahmad said.
