Egypt will begin producing its first batch of electric buses at its military production factories in November, the Minister of Military Production Mohamed al-Assar announced on Sunday.
During a meeting with the Industry Committee of the House of Representatives, Assar explained that his ministry has set up a company for battery charging stations.
Contracts are in place to run electric buses inside the cities and establish charging stations, he added.
The ministry has contracted Chinese company Foton for the manufacturing of the vehicles, Assar said, at a rate of 500 annually for four years at a total of 2000 buses.
An agreement has also been made with the Chinese company Geely to manufacture electric passenger cars, the minister added.
He also said the Minister of Military Production is in charge of coordinating with all concerned parties to spread, encourage and localize Egypt’s electric car industry. Egypt’s Military 200 Factory, affiliated with the Ministry of State for Military Production, is in charge of electric bus production in cooperation with Chinese company Foton.
In collaboration with China’s Foton Company, the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production is set to produce affordable electric mini-cars (dubbed E-Motion cars), according to an official announcement by Assar in October.
The ministry seeks to localize the electric vehicle industry through its factories in partnership with Foton, a leading Chinese company in the manufacture of electric vehicles.
Egypt says it has developed a comprehensive vision for the automobile and electric cars industry, currently being formulated and set to be announced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi soon.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
