Tesla-Audi cars start hitting the Bangladesh streets

Swimming with the tide in the outside world, the luxurious electric vehicles (EVs) of the global automobile giants are gaining a foothold in Bangladesh, though at a snail’s pace. 

The electric car market gained momentum here in the previous year when the government authorised the vehicles' operation in the country and cleared other complexities. The number of high-end electric cars now exceeded half a hundred.

Tesla, a US company that pioneered the global EV industry, has stolen the show in the completely new market here. It is now no surprise to see Tesla cars plying the city streets. Also, European brands Audi,  Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche each maintain a fair share in the electric car market here.  

The global electric car market is quite big now, but Bangladesh still lags behind in the context of import and use of moving electric luxuries. 

Car dealers said the import of electric cars began five years ago, but the buyers failed to get the vehicles registered with the road transport authority in the following years. Hence, the already imported cars were being used to travel short distances evading the surveillance of law enforcers.

According to Chattogram customs sources, a car dealer – Royal Motors of Dhaka – imported the maiden unit of Tesla EV in 2017 at a cost of Tk 11.3 million. Its cost totalled Tk 21 million with the customs duties. Later, four other units of Tesla EV were imported in the following years. 

Of them, TBH Company brought two electric cars while Big Automobiles and RPM Motors brought one car each. 

Tesla earned USD 81.5 billion by selling 1.3 million electric cars across the world in the previous year. Its chief executive Elon Musk is now the world’s second top rich.

The import of Tesla cars has been undisclosed to date due to various reasons. Progress Motors, however, broke the glass ceiling last month and officially announced to import and market electric cars of German model Audi e-tron. It has so far imported 28 vehicles. 

The Audi e-tron cars can travel a maximum stretch of 300 kilometres after a full charge. It can accelerate to its maximum speed within seconds. 

Fazle Samad, chief operating officer of Progress Motors Imports Limited, said the eco-friendly Audi e-tron is the maiden officially marketed electric car in Bangladesh. Each unit of the model costs Tk 15.9 million. 

He set sight on the potential of electric car market here and said the market will expand in Bangladesh when the sale of oil-run cars will come to an end in Europe after 2030.  

Apart from Tesla and Audi, nine electric cars of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz each have recently been imported. Also, two units of MG ZS brand have been brought here. 

Each unit of Porsche Taycan costs USD 55,000 to 70,000 for import while the amount stands at Tk 13.6 million to 16.2 million with the import duties. Importing a Mercedes-Benz electric car costs more or less Tk 15 million. 

However, these cars sell at a significantly higher price than their import costs. 

The traders, in most cases, do not want to disclose any information about the buyers of luxury cars. They attribute their stance to the reluctance of their customers in making identities and car prices public. But they confirmed that all the buyers belong to the elite group. 

Habib Ullah, president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) and managing director of Auto Museum Limited, imported Porsche Taycan electric car. 

In a conversation with Prothom Alo, he said it is a positive issue that the registration of electric cars began here, though the import began more than five years ago. He underscored the need for installing charging stations in the parking lots and ground floors of the multi-storey buildings for the electric cars. 

Also, the authorities should provide incentives as it will increase the usage of eco-friendly cars and reduce pollution, he added. 

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has so far registered eight electric vehicles in its two zones of the capital city. Here, the battery capacity has been mentioned in kilowatts, instead of the vehicles’ cylinder capacity. 

A BRTA official told Prothom Alo that the authority has been registering electric cars since 2022 and there is no complexity in the process. 

All the cars were powered by fossil fuel here until the hybrid ones, in combination with fuel oil and electricity, appeared in the scene. It really sounds good that electric vehicles started hitting the city roads, though it's late in comparison to the outside world. 

The market of oil-powered cars is still dominated by low-cost ones. On the flip side, the country entered the era of eco-friendly electric vehicles with the import of cars worth more than Tk 15 million. The use of luxurious cars is increasing at a time when the economic crisis is taking a turn for the worse here. 

Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said some people make good profits when there is a problem in the economy. Some people get money in different ways. The scenario of luxurious car imports proves that all are not hit equally when the economy is in trouble. 

The scenario made the fact more evident that income and wealth inequality is rising in Bangladesh, he added.