Kathmandu: Electric vehicles are rapidly gaining ground in Nepal’s automobile market, with more than 63,000 EVs now registered and electric cars accounting for over 70 per cent of newly imported private four-wheelers, government data show.
Nepal began adopting electric vehicles only in recent years, but their uptake has been rapid, with EVs increasingly outpacing traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles.
A total of 63,280 electric vehicles, including two-, three- and four-wheelers, had been registered in Nepal by the end of fiscal year 2025-26 in mid-July, according to statistics included in the National Transport Policy 2026, released by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development which also oversees the transportation affairs.
Compared with Nepal’s total registered vehicle fleet of nearly 6.25 million, EVs still account for only a small fraction of the country’s overall vehicle population. However, the figure reflects the rapid penetration of EVs in less than a decade, compared with the much longer history of ICE vehicle registration in the country.
However, the picture is changing quickly as electric mobility expands.
Electric four-wheelers accounted for more than 70 per cent of newly imported private cars in Nepal, making the Himalayan country the world’s second-largest market for private EVs by share of new vehicle sales, behind only Norway, according to the ministry.
In the last fiscal year alone, Nepal imported 11,666 electric four-wheelers. The rapid expansion of the EV market has been driven by government policies aimed at reducing Nepal’s dependence on imported petroleum products and promoting the use of domestically generated electricity.
Nepal has maintained significantly lower taxes on EVs than on conventional ICE vehicles, while relatively easier financing and the arrival of a growing range of electric models have also helped boost sales. The shift is particularly significant for Nepal, which has abundant hydropower resources and is rapidly expanding its electricity generation capacity. By replacing imported fossil fuels with domestically generated electricity, the government sees electric mobility as an important part of its broader strategy for green growth and energy security.
“The increasing use of EVs has contributed to reducing the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels while expanding the use of domestically generated electricity, indicating a gradual transformation of Nepal’s vehicle fleet,” the ministry said.
Under Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0, introduced in 2025 under the Paris Agreement, the country aims to increase the share of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in private passenger vehicle sales, including two-wheelers, to 90 percent by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035.
Nepal also aims to increase the share of BEVs in public passenger vehicle sales to 70 per cent by 2030 and 90 per cent by 2035.
The growth of EVs is also beginning to reshape Nepal’s automobile market and competition in the electric vehicle segment has intensified. For decades, Indian-made ICE vehicles dominated Nepal’s automobile market but now Chinese brands have increasingly been making news, particularly in the four-wheeler EV segment.
However, the rapid expansion of electric mobility has also exposed weaknesses in the country’s supporting infrastructure and regulatory framework, according to the ministry.
“Charging infrastructure, battery management, safety standards, battery recycling mechanisms and operational regulations remain at different stages of development,” the ministry acknowledged.
(IANS)
