PAKISTAN’S biggest import is petroleum. In the last three years, that bill has averaged over $16 billion a year. Most of it is burned in transport. Motorcycles and rickshaws use about 40 per cent of the petrol. On average one motorcycle adds $80 to oil import each year. Pakistan has over 30 million motorcycles and last year assembled another 2m. In terms of our national EV policy, if we want to cut the oil import bill and reduce noise and air pollution in our cities, we need to electrify motorcycles first. Not cars.
Let’s look at the experience of three countries that have tried to do this. China’s cities banned ordinary petrol motorcycles from inner city zones. Then they allowed only electric two-wheelers to come in. Riders dumped their petrol bikes and switched to electric. Meanwhile in India, the government decided on a different route. To pay a small subsidy on electric scooters and motorcycles. Sales increased. However, since a new electric bike still appeared more expensive than a petrol one, mass adoption did not happen. Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, set a date to stop petrol motorbikes entering parts of the city. However, the network of charging and battery-swap points was not ready. The result was large-scale violations of the regulations until the banned zone shrank to a few streets.
Pakistan’s new EV policy targets 30pc of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. It allocates a subsidy of Rs9bn for around 120,000 electric bikes and 3,000 electric rickshaws in the first year. This roughly works out to Rs80,000 per vehicle. From my perspective, these targets are low and even these are unlikely to be achieved. Let us see how the policy can be tweaked so that we can achieve the take-off we need.
An electric motorcycle is two separate things: the frame and the battery. They do not have to be sold as one package. The battery accounts for about 40pc of the bike’s price. When the rider is forced to buy both together, the electric bike becomes more expensive than a petrol one.
Motorbikes should be electrified first.
Consider the real choices a buyer faces. A new Honda CD 70 costs about Rs160,000. This is out of reach for most Pakistanis so they turn to cheaper bikes. A new Chinese petrol bike can be bought for under Rs100,000. A second-hand petrol bike is available for Rs50,000-70,000. Now let’s consider an electric bike (with battery) which costs around Rs250,000. If we remove the battery — the heavy, expensive, theft-prone component — the outlay is reduced to Rs150,000. It becomes cheaper than a Honda CD 70 but still more than a Chinese petrol bike and several times more than a used one. If we now apply the subsidy the price comes down to Rs70,000. This lowers the friction for adoption as riders can sell their old bikes and after adding a few thousand rupees buy new electric ones. The switch to electric becomes a compelling value proposition. Electric bikes also cost much less to maintain than petrol ones.
Next, we need to solve for the battery. This is where we introduce ‘battery as a service’ instead of thinking about it as hardware. The rider pays a monthly subscription and then uses battery swap shops where they can rent a charged battery, return it when it depletes and pick another fully charged one. In Taiwan, swap cabinets stand at convenience stores. In India, they stand in small shops and on fuel stations. In China, household bikes charge at home. In Pakistan, the reality is most bikes are parked on the street and there is no socket nearby.
Once we frame it like this, a pathway for mass adoption lights up. Step one: the government lays down one battery standard so any brand can use the same cabinet. Each battery should carry a unique number (analogous to an IMEI for mobile phones) so a cabinet can reject stolen or unregistered packs. This reduces the theft risk and makes unlisted packs harder to use. It also opens batteries to bank lending and insurance.
Step two: the government creates a single regulatory authority for electric two wheelers. Step three: city municipalities identify swap points in the cities. They can lease or license these spots. Step four: power utilities connect these swap points so cabinets are provided electricity at the (lower) industrial tariff. Step five: City municipalities begin restricting petrol bikes from certain zones.
Mass adoption follows.
We have a growing EV opportunity, a proven global model for battery swapping, and a subsidy that can remove the upfront cost barrier. The challenge is to orchestrate things in a way that lands a successful outcome. Do this, and the shift from petrol to electric will not be a fluffy policy target for 2030; it will become a street-level reality.
The writer is a business strategist and entrepreneur.
moazzamhusain@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2026
