A friend recently sent me a WhatsApp photo, standing tall before a black SUV lit up like a stage with lights all around. The ambiance amplified his personality. He was invited to the launch ceremony of the Plugged-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV) by Haval in August 2025.

Like my friend, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are cool; they are trendy and in the spotlight nowadays. From a normal passenger car customer to the government, all are in awe of these aerodynamic, sleek, smart, and dandy-shaped vehicles. Another event in the same month proved that the government is also keen to follow the global trend.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan launched the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) policy 2025-2030 in Islamabad, accompanied by his aides. The enthusiastic audience applauded, students received gifts of electric bikes, and the Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification (PAVE) Scheme was launched with ambitious targets, including achieving 30% of all new vehicle sales as electric by 2030.

Everything looks amazing, but there are deeper concerns regarding the implementation of the policy. It reminded me of the famous five-year plan of 60s, for which we have heard stories. The stories in which these plans, when implemented by other countries, produced excellent results, but they never worked for our motherland. We are perhaps good at making plans, but implementing these is another ball game, which is certainly not our forte.

Achieving targets in this policy seems an uphill task due to multiple reasons. The foremost is the price of these vehicles. The lowest priced four-wheeler costs Rs. 4 million. Replacing engines with motors, fuel tanks with batteries, and transmission with electronic control boxes, EVs have eliminated many moving parts and made the design simpler.

But these are expensive machines costing more than their contemporary fossil........

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