IN an interview with Automotive News, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda recently cautioned that a single electric vehicle (EV) produces more lifecycle emissions than three hybrids combined. For Pakistan, where Lahore and Karachi routinely rank among the world’s most polluted cities, that claim deserves serious reflection before we accelerate further down the EV road.

The inconvenient truth is that EVs are only as clean as the grid powering them. Pakistan’s electricity generation remains based on coal, furnace oil and gas. When an EV charges in Lahore, it is powered by the very combustion it was meant to replace. Emissions shift from tailpipe to smokestack, but do not dis-appear. The plan to build 3,000 EV charging stations by 2030 will only deepen this contradiction unless the grid itself is cleaned up in parallel.

The economic case for EVs is real and resonates with Pakistani consumers. But economics alone cannot drive environ-mental policy. We must broaden the strategy. Hybrid vehicles offer meaningful emission cuts without grid dependence. A diversified approach is the only answer to Pakistan’s deepening environmental crisis.

Abdul Samee
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2026