Evaluating Kuwait’s Electric Vehicle Lag: In-Depth Analysis of Owner Experiences, Dealer Perspectives, and Policy Recommendations with Local Data Insights ^†

1. Objectives

Kuwait had one of the lowest EV adoption rates in the world in March 2023, with only 400 electric vehicles (EVs) on its roads, or 0.2 per 1000 total automobiles. This study details the benefits and drawbacks of EV ownership in Kuwait by examining the experiences of 12 local Kuwaiti EV owners by deep interviews. Additionally, interviews with EV dealers provide insight into the future of EVs in Kuwait, including modifications that are required for broader appeal and elements that contribute to the low adoption rates at the moment. This study examines the EV models that have been sold in Kuwait and their usage by whom. Furthermore, we forecast models that may succeed in Kuwait under particular circumstances. We provide EV sales projections that account for early adopter and early majority preferences depending on three scenarios of infrastructural build up and incentive policies [1,2,3,4].

2. Methodology

This is primarily a qualitative study that is based on deep interviews with Kuwaiti EV owners and secondarily with EV automotive dealers. The guiding methodology is the interview setting and processing technique called the Vancouver School of Doing Phenomenology. This technique rests on seven pillars, which are: (1) scope and validations–10 semi-structured open-ended interview questions that have been validated in dry runs; (2) trust building–taped interviews in a setting of mutual respect and trust that has been established beforehand; (3) dialogue–calm atmosphere where interviewee can freely express their opinion and experience with widest degree of freedom; (4) transcription–interviewer interprets the whole message conveyed, which might include body language, tone of voice or other non-verbal or verbal cues; (5) construction–finding a description that captures the result and its meaning; (6) final big picture verification with the interviewees and other final testimonies; and (7) externalization of the findings and promote further studies.

Our secondary method is a forward regression on consumer demands (built on the results from the first study) depending on three set of scenarios of infrastructural build up and incentive policies [5,6,7].

3. Results

EV technology in Kuwait is presently limited to early consumers, according to our in-depth interviews with EV proprietors and automobile dealers. We determined that the majority of early adopters are one of three types of motorists. The first group consists of torque and luxury enthusiasts, who are primarily wealthy 60-plus-year-old males who purchase full-option sports versions of EVs (Porsche Taycan, Tesla S, Jaguar I-Pace, and BMW I3S) as their third or fourth vehicle. The second group consists of male administrators and senior specialists over the age of 50 who purchase a luxury electric vehicle as a second vehicle (Audi e-tron, Mercedes EQS, Tesla X, and Volvo XC40). The third group predominately consists of 30–40-year-old women who are typically intermediate or middle managers, married, with young children, and have another ICE vehicle in their household (Mercedes EQC, Renault Twizy, Smart, Volkswagen 1D.4, Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Mazda MX-30, and Polestar 2). This group favors the soundless engine and lack of maintenance due to its environmental friendliness. The majority of Tesla model Y and model 3 drivers are male, as women in Kuwait are reluctant to purchase vehicles without a dealership [8,9,10,11,12].

4. Implications

Both EV owners and EV automobile dealers provide the government of Kuwait with concreate advice. The most important was to immediately install 150 Direct Current (DC) fast-charging facilities, one at each gas station. ChargedKw, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) services, reports 42 Alternating Current (AC) public charging stations in Kuwait, primarily in and around retail centers. Comparatively, a 300–400 kW DC converter takes 20 min to charge the majority of contemporary EVs. In Kuwait, no full-sized DC charging stations were installed as of September 2023. Due to order backlogs, establishing 150 stations would take two years, not including the time required to administer the tendering process. It would cost about KWD 15,000 to install each charging station, or around KWD 2.3 million in total for 150 stations. Second, the advice from EV owners was to prohibit Kuwaiti landlords from banning tenants from installing EV fast-charging home devices, which most landlords will not permit at or around their facilities. This reluctance impedes the progression of e-mobility because it effectively prevents expatriates from owning EVs because they are prohibited from owning real estate in Kuwait and thus under rules of the landlords. The third recommendation from the EV owners was for dealerships to provide a 12-year warranty on the EV batteries, which would be equivalent to the life of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. The greatest expense for EV owners is the vehicle’s rapid depreciation, which outweighs the much lower maintenance costs of EV compared to ICE vehicles. With such extensive warranties, the risk associated with the battery’s lifespan and depreciation costs would be substantially reduced. Actionable government support would be to cease levying the 5% import tax on EVs and exempting EVs from the anticipated Value-Added Tax (VAT) in order to offset the 20–30% higher purchase price due to additional battery costs. The nations with the highest EV adoption waive all road tolls on ferries, tunnels, and toll roads, and they permit EVs to use lanes reserved for public transportation. In Kuwait, these additional measures could prove to be quite effective [13,14,15].

5. Originality Value

The Global North has been researching all the aspects of e-mobility for more than two decades, with Scandinavian nations such as Norway, Iceland, and Sweden at the vanguard of both research and adoption. This phenomenon is relatively new in the Middle East, where researchers have only recently caught up with the e-mobility trend. Kuwait is unique in that EV adoption is among the lowest in the world, and very little research has been conducted to determine the underlying causes. This paper is the 10th research paper produced for the project “Break the ICE Reign-A Mixed-Method Study of Attitude Towards Using and Purchasing Electric Vehicles in Kuwait”. Due to its uniqueness and novelty, the Kuwaiti Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences has provided generous financial support that has allowed researchers to collect substantial data on the subject, which could assist the Kuwaiti government with the implementation of electric vehicles.

6. Contribution

Kuwait confronts many obstacles in reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet the country’s Kyoto Protocol and COP21 commitments. Transportation on the ground generates 12% of Kuwait’s total greenhouse gas emissions, ranking third after electricity production (48%) (mostly used for interior air-cooling) and manufacturing and industries (28%; primarily hydrocarbon production). Kuwait’s emissions per capita are ranked third in the world, after Qatar and Bahrain, and are roughly three times higher than the EU average. However, Kuwait’s GHG emissions per capita have decreased annually since the previously recorded 31.1 tCO₂ e/person in 2005. This series of studies suggests that transitioning from conventional vehicles powered by fossil fuels and internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric vehicles (EVs) could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Kuwait, thereby assisting the country in meeting the Kyoto Protocol and COP21 standards. The oil-producing country Norway is the global champion in EV adoption and as such is frequently mentioned in conversations about the feasibility of electromobility. Norway has a comparable population to Kuwait; thus, it provides an intriguing comparison to a country with a low EV adoption rate. Norway, for instance, has supplanted 20%, or 800,000 vehicles, of its ground transportation with EVs, resulting in a permanent 3% reduction in its GHG emissions. Comparatively, much less than 1% of Kuwait’s ground transportation, or approximately 400 vehicles, has been replaced with electric vehicles. The evidence from Norway demonstrates that electromobility could be a viable option for Kuwait to fulfill its commitment to the United Nations to reduce GHG emissions through their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) 7 and Kuwait Vision 2035 sustainable goal number 13: “Take immediate action to combat climate change and its impacts” [16,17,18,19].