PHNOM PENH – Cambodia aims to register 770,000 electric vehicles by 2030 in a new national policy designed to diversify its economic foundation and contribute to economic growth, environmental sustainability and energy security.

According to the National Policy on the Development of Electric Vehicles 2024-2030, development of EVs is an urgent and necessary task to speed up diversification of the economic base and support growth while reducing the number of old vehicles.

As of June, Cambodia registered 1,614 EVs including 914 electric scooters and 440 three-wheeler vehicles, a Ministry of Public Works and Transport report said.

There are 21 battery charging stations across the country.

The country aims to sharply increase EV registrations in the next six years by raising the number of battery electric vehicles (BEV) to 770,000. 

These include 25,000 battery electric private cars and 5,000 commercial vehicles, along with 720,000 scooters and 20,000 three-wheelers.

The development of EVs provides many benefits in terms of economy, environment, security, energy and especially the adoption of new technologies in line with global trends, according to the policy. 

Using EVs will help contribute to the government ambition to achieve zero carbon emissions in 2050, decrease dependency on oil as potential supply insecurity has adversely affected the county’s foreign reserve. EVs also save money for users. 

The policy also outlines key challenges in EV development including lack of policy and incentive, regulations, limited charging stations and human resources while the lack of trust in EVs, price and repair services are also obstacles to EV use.

Cambodia has capacity to produce components for general vehicles thanks to foreign investments such as wire and tires which are supplied to other countries to install in vehicles.