Nepal’s EV Revolution: Three Attempts, One Last Chance to Get It Right?

When someone says “electric cars,” what pops into your head? Probably Teslas gliding through California, right? Maybe Norway with its endless charging stations, or China’s mega-factories pumping out batteries by the millions.

But Nepal? That’s surely not the name that pops up when the conversation is “EV revolution”

But, what if we told you that we've been trying to make this whole electric thing work for nearly half a century? Seriously. We’ve had three massive shots at this, each one a completely different story with a different set of wheels. Each time, we got off to a roaring start, filled with hope and promise, and then, each time, we somehow managed to trip over our own feet.

Fast forward to today; 2025, we’re in our third attempt, and it’s no small experiment. Almost 76% of new passenger cars registered in Nepal are electric. That’s a number so wild it puts us right behind Norway, which hovers at around 93% EV market share for new cars. 

The EV revolution this time, feels unstoppable. But if you listen closely, you can almost hear history whispering in our ear: “Don’t mess this up again.”

But before we get into that, let’s look at the major waves of EVs that Nepal has seen since the 70s.

The First Wave: When Kathmandu Rode the Future (1975–2008)

Let’s go back to1975 in Kathmandu. The air is cleaner, the city is quieter, and gliding down the road between Kathmandu and Bhaktapur is something straight out of a sci-fi movie; an electric trolley bus. A gift from China, these buses were our first real taste of electric transport.

And they were brilliant.

They were whisper-quiet, ran on clean hydropower from our own rivers, and gave thousands of people a cheap, reliable ride every single day. At their best, they handled around 10,000 passengers daily on that main route. It felt like we were living in the future.

What Went Wrong? 

The simplest answer: people. A fancy piece of technology is only as good as the people running it. The government agency in charge became a classic case of too many staff and not enough accountability. Political chaos meant nobody was really in charge, so things just started to fall apart. Overhead wires would snap and just be left dangling. 

Brand new buses sent from China would arrive and then just sit in a garage, gathering dust because nobody had been trained to fix them. It’s a funny, sad truth that the older, simpler models often kept running long after the shiny new ones gave up.

To make matters worse, private diesel bus owners weren’t exactly thrilled about the competition. They saw these clean, cheap buses as a threat and, as the stories go, weren’t above a bit of sabotage to keep their own vehicles full. By the late ‘90s, the system was a shadow of its former self. By 2009, it was officially dead.

Lesson one: You can be decades ahead on tech, but without management, maintenance, and accountability, you’re just building scrap metal on wheels.

But if you thought that was the end of Nepal’s EV dream, you’d be wrong. Out of the smog of the 90s came a quirky little hero

The Second Wave: Safa Tempos Take The Streets (1990s Onwards)

By the early 1990s, Kathmandu had a new problem. A big one. The city was literally choking on its own fumes. The beautiful valley had turned into a smog bowl, and the air was thick with the exhaust from petrol and diesel cars.

But then, out of that haze, came a plucky little hero: the Safa Tempo.

These were boxy, battery-powered three-wheelers, mostly built right here in Nepal. They weren't fancy, but they were perfect for zipping around the city's crowded streets.

Think about it: they ran on our own hydropower, not expensive imported fuel. They gave people an affordable way to get around. And, in a truly groundbreaking twist, many of them were driven and owned by women. In a society where women’s economic roles were limited, that was truly impressive. So, in a way, safa tempos were also rewriting gender norms in Nepal.

But these little heroes had their limits. 

What Went Wrong?

The batteries, for starters, were imported, expensive, and took forever to charge. There were hardly any charging stations, so drivers were always anxious about running out of juice. And on the main roads, they just couldn’t compete with the bigger, faster diesel buses.

The government’s attitude didn’t help. One minute they were praising the Safa Tempos as eco-warriors; the next they were burying their route permits in endless red tape, while the fossil-fuel guys got their paperwork approved in a flash.

As a result, the Safa Tempos survived (you can still see them strolling around Kathmandu) but they never thrived on a massive scale. They became a beloved, quirky part of Kathmandu’s landscape but never the powerful, city-wide solution they could have been.

Lesson two: Amazing ideas can sprout from the ground up, but without a strong support system; like reliable infrastructure and consistent government policy, they’ll struggle to grow beyond a small garden patch.

Yet again, we had innovation, we had hope, but no scale. And then came the third wave, and this time, on a much larger scale.

The Third Wave: Hitting the Accelerator (Maybe a Little Too Hard?)

Alright, so fast forward to today. This isn't some small-scale pilot program anymore. This is the main event, and it is wild.

As of 2025, 76% of new passenger cars imported into Nepal are electric. That’s the second-highest EV market share in the world. To give you a little context, the US and EU hover around 10–15%,.

Forget the slow and steady approach. We went from virtually zero to a world contender in the EV race in less than a decade. Also, no one’s doing it at the scale that we are. 

Call it a full-blown revolution. But should we be a little worried that we’ve jumped headfirst while the rest of the world is still just dipping their toes? (More on that later.) First, let’s ask: what lit the rocket fuel?

How Did We Get So Ahead?

It wasn't one thing; it was everything hitting at once.

• We finally had the power: More than 90% of Nepal’s electricity comes from clean hydro. At night, much of it goes to waste. EVs finally give that energy a home.

• Petrol was bleeding us dry: Nepal spends over $1.5 billion annually on petroleum imports. Every EV cuts into that bleeding.

• We couldn't breathe: Kathmandu’s air regularly ranks among the worst in the world, with pollution-linked diseases soaring. EVs aren’t a cure-all, but they’re one of the fastest relief valves.

The government then threw a match on the kindling: they slashed the import taxes on EVs. Almost overnight, buying a sleek, quiet electric car became the smart, economic choice, not just the green one. Charging stations mushroomed (As of May 2025, the number of charging stations across the country hit 750), and the public went all in. 

But, when so many developed countries are taking a precautionary approach with EV adoption, should we be concerned about where Nepal is heading with this?

Should We Be Concerned About This?

Ever played Jenga? Well, Nepal’s EV story feels so much like it. The blocks keep staking up, and sure, the tower’s growing taller as well, but one wrong move, and the whole thing could come crashing down.

Also, if our history has taught us anything, it’s that starting strong is the easy part. It’s the follow-through that gets us. And as much as we want to pop the champagne and throw confetti around to celebrate Nepal’s EV adoption, there’s some serious issues we need to talk about before we go into that.

1. Wobbly Policies, Whiplash Prices: 

Our government's rules on EVs can change with a single budget speech. Remember when the entire country suspected that the new budget would hike EV taxes, so the importers flooded customs with thousands of EVs, but then nothing actually happened? That’s how fragile our system is. Policies can change overnight. One day, EVs are affordable; the next, a tax hike could send prices soaring. This uncertainty makes everyone; from buyers to businesses, incredibly anxious.

2. Hydro ≠ unlimited electricity: 

Yes, Nepal produces clean hydro, but most of it is seasonal. During the dry season (winter), supply already struggles to keep up with peak demand. On top of that, is our grid ready to handle the load of an entire country plugging their cars after work? 

3. The Dependency on China: 

Right now, around 70% of EVs we import comes from China. We've essentially placed all our bets on a single supplier. Any political hiccup or supply chain issue, and our entire EV revolution could grind to a halt.

4. The Coming Battery Mountain: 

An EV battery lasts about 10–12 years. In a decade, we will be staring at a literal mountain of dead, toxic batteries with no real recycling system in place. When we’re already struggling with household waste, handling chemical waste at this scale is a whole new monster.

5. A Tale of Two Nepals: 

This boom is an urban story. For the middle and upper class in the cities, EVs are fantastic. But if you live in a rural village, you're still completely dependent on petrol bikes and diesel jeeps. We're at risk of creating a future where clean air and cheap transport are luxuries, not rights.

Where Do We Go From Here?

So, here we are. Nepal has accidentally become a global phenomenon. While countries like Norway spent decades methodically building their EV world, we tried to build a skyscraper overnight. It looks dazzling from a distance, but we have to make sure the foundation is solid.

This is our moment of choice. Do we want this to be another story of a brilliant start and a disappointing finish? Or do we want this to be the one that lasts?

The trolley buses collapsed under mismanagement. The Safa Tempos stalled without support. This third wave is bigger, faster, and riskier than both combined. If it fails, the crash will be spectacular.

But if we steer it wisely? Nepal could become the blueprint the rest of the developing world studies for decades.

The question is no longer whether Nepal can go electric. We already have. 3 times. The question is whether we can keep it running.

The choices we make in the next 5 years will decide whether Nepal becomes a global case study in clean mobility, or another cautionary tale. 

So, how do we make sure this time, we don’t trip over our own feet?

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