Saudi Arabia Aims to Develop EV Industry
2024-01-29
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars to become competitive in the electric vehicle (EV) industry.
2Such efforts are part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's broader plan to create jobs and diversify the country's economy.
3The kingdom has invested at least $10 billion in Lucid Motors, a United States-based company.
4It also set up a Saudi EV company, Ceer, and built an EV metals factory.
5The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's $700 billion sovereign wealth fund, has a goal to produce 500,000 EVs yearly by 2030, up from a target of 150,000 in 2026.
6Yet by December, Ceer, which opened in September 2023, had put together around 800 vehicles.
7Those vehicles were based on kits supplied from the U.S. state of Arizona.
8Saudi Arabia has failed in the past to appeal to foreign car makers.
9Japan's Toyota rejected a proposed deal with Saudi Arabia in 2019.
10The company said labor costs were too high, local suppliers were too few, and the market was too small.
11As the world moves away from cars fueled by oil, experts say Saudi Arabia faces competition in the EV industry.
12"There is tremendous competition that the country will face from established manufacturing power houses and from established supply chains," said Gaurav Batra of EY, a business advisory company.
13Batra added, "A lot of things need to come into place before this industry takes shape and really ignites."
14Saudi officials did not respond to Reuters news agency requests for comment.
15China currently leads the new supply chain as well as EV production.
16Chinese company BYD became the world's biggest maker of EVs last year, pushing Tesla motors into 2nd place.
17Saudi Arabia faces a lack of auto parts supply - anything from car doors to engines.
18There is no major local industry to produce these goods.
19The EV manufacturer Ceer, a joint project between the PIF and Taiwanese company Foxconn, plans to launch a car by 2025.
20But the company has not yet built its factory.
21A source connected to Ceer said it was unlikely the company would have a vehicle on the road before 2026.
22The source spoke on condition that they not be identified.
23In October, South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai and the PIF announced a project to build a factory for traditional engine vehicles and electric vehicles.
24The project, along with those of Lucid and Ceer, would create a group of factories in Jeddah's King Abdullah Economic City.
25Ceer will get parts from Germany's BMW automobile company, including batteries, the highest cost single part of an EV.
26Lucid vice president Faisal Sultan told Reuters in December that Saudi Arabia needed the presence of critical suppliers.
27He said the Saudi factory only rebuilt vehicles and the Arizona site carried out quality control testing.
28The company's idea - keeping the supply chain and vehicle manufacturing in the United States - could lead other companies to set up rebuild sites as well.
29As a result, these companies might be able to get Saudi incentives, a Saudi auto industry leader said.
30But such moves could slow the growth of local Saudi manufacturing as the country would continue to import foreign-made cars.
31I'm John Russell.
1Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars to become competitive in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. 2Such efforts are part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's broader plan to create jobs and diversify the country's economy. The kingdom has invested at least $10 billion in Lucid Motors, a United States-based company. It also set up a Saudi EV company, Ceer, and built an EV metals factory. 3The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's $700 billion sovereign wealth fund, has a goal to produce 500,000 EVs yearly by 2030, up from a target of 150,000 in 2026. 4Yet by December, Ceer, which opened in September 2023, had put together around 800 vehicles. Those vehicles were based on kits supplied from the U.S. state of Arizona. 5Saudi Arabia has failed in the past to appeal to foreign car makers. 6Japan's Toyota rejected a proposed deal with Saudi Arabia in 2019. The company said labor costs were too high, local suppliers were too few, and the market was too small. 7As the world moves away from cars fueled by oil, experts say Saudi Arabia faces competition in the EV industry. 8"There is tremendous competition that the country will face from established manufacturing power houses and from established supply chains," said Gaurav Batra of EY, a business advisory company. 9Batra added, "A lot of things need to come into place before this industry takes shape and really ignites." 10Saudi officials did not respond to Reuters news agency requests for comment. 11EV production 12China currently leads the new supply chain as well as EV production. Chinese company BYD became the world's biggest maker of EVs last year, pushing Tesla motors into 2nd place. 13Saudi Arabia faces a lack of auto parts supply - anything from car doors to engines. There is no major local industry to produce these goods. 14The EV manufacturer Ceer, a joint project between the PIF and Taiwanese company Foxconn, plans to launch a car by 2025. But the company has not yet built its factory. 15A source connected to Ceer said it was unlikely the company would have a vehicle on the road before 2026. The source spoke on condition that they not be identified. 16In October, South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai and the PIF announced a project to build a factory for traditional engine vehicles and electric vehicles. The project, along with those of Lucid and Ceer, would create a group of factories in Jeddah's King Abdullah Economic City. 17Ceer will get parts from Germany's BMW automobile company, including batteries, the highest cost single part of an EV. 18Lucid vice president Faisal Sultan told Reuters in December that Saudi Arabia needed the presence of critical suppliers. He said the Saudi factory only rebuilt vehicles and the Arizona site carried out quality control testing. 19The company's idea - keeping the supply chain and vehicle manufacturing in the United States - could lead other companies to set up rebuild sites as well. As a result, these companies might be able to get Saudi incentives, a Saudi auto industry leader said. 20But such moves could slow the growth of local Saudi manufacturing as the country would continue to import foreign-made cars. 21I'm John Russell. 22Pesha Magid, Nick Carey and Marc Jones reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 23___________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25kit - n. a set of parts that are put together to build something 26tremendous - adj. very large or great 27ignite - v. to give life or energy to something 28supply chain - n. the series of people and companies involved in the production of a good 29incentive - n. something that encourages a person to do something