How legalising electric conversion of cars could benefit Bangladesh

A wise man once said, (Bangladesh) government is like a giant boulder — it takes time to move it. 

Many years after electric cars made a comeback to the world (the first cars in the 19th century were electric), Bangladesh finally came up with the Electric Motor Vehicle Registration and Operation Guideline in 2023. This was the right decision because electric vehicles, this time, are here to stay.

Also, the government of Bangladesh has pledged under the Paris Agreement to cut carbon emissions by 3.4 million tonnes in the transportation sector, which will require raising the ratio of electric vehicles to at least 30% of total vehicles by 2030.

Now, we rarely see fully electric cars on the streets of Bangladesh. At the current rate, the country will go nowhere near the 30% target in six years.

Currently, only high-end electric cars such as Tesla, BYD etc. are being imported in the country, which is also a reason behind its slow expansion. One may wonder how these supercars fit on Bangladesh's streets with lower speed limits and the presence of non-motorised vehicles like rickshaws. 

Bangladesh actually needs a Europe-styled EV expansion where basic, affordable electric cars are very popular because of their lower power consumption.

But Bangladesh does not need to fully depend on EV imports to reach the target. What we can do is convert our old vehicles to electric ones. This is quite an easy task and is widely practised across the world. 

Most buildings constructed in Dhaka in the last decade have rooftop solar panels that come to no use — the homeowners install them just to be eligible for grid connectivity. These panels can be used in charging converted electric vehicles.

The practice of conversion is so widespread that numerous DIY (do it yourself) videos on how to replace IC engines with electric motors are available on the Internet, and anyone can have their car converted to electric ones under government-approved policies and guidelines, and update their papers likewise.

This way, beautiful classic cars such as VW Beetles are getting a new life and 'repopulating' the streets. More and more cars are being brought back to life, which is positively impacting the environment by eliminating the need for a completely new car.

Even the Nepal government, in 2022, legalised converting combustion engine vehicles into electric or other alternative fuel vehicles. Needless to mention, it is legal in India, too. In Bangladesh, of course, swapping combustion engines with electric motors is not legal yet.

It is time for Bangladesh to join this rather progressive trend, which I would like to call a movement like thrift clothes where reselling of used clothes slows down fast fashion. 

Electric conversion of combustion engines is the slow fashion in the automobile industry. This is a way to become sustainable, and only more sustainable than this is using public transport, in which we have to make progress in a very planned way. Even the large buses can be converted to electric ones. 

For this to happen, Bangladesh has to make policies and legalise electric conversion of cars. There are already people in the country who have done this, and they are only held back by the lack of legal framework allowing for such conversion.

Article 12.10 of the Electric Motor Vehicle Registration and Operation Guideline does mention that local companies can set up joint ventures with foreign companies and set up factories in the country to manufacture and convert EVs, without providing further details. 

Legal and procedural changes are yet to be addressed. Also, encouraging local entrepreneurs by removing the conditions of joint ventures would be appropriate.

Utilising the solar potential

Although electric cars are emissions-free at the street level, many argue that they are not environmentally friendly since they are charged with electricity produced at, more often than not, fossil-fuel based power plants. 

Elon Musk, the man who brought back electric vehicles, answered this question once. Indeed, big power plants are more efficient than internal combustion engines (ICE) of cars. Percentage wise, the power plants are twice as efficient than those engines. Hence, an electric car's environmental footprint, with motors over 90% efficient, is actually lower than ICE cars.

It is certain that the streets of the world will fill with electric cars in the coming years, as more and more car manufacturers are making course corrections towards making EVs.

Electric cars are also environmentally friendly because they have less moving parts, which means less chances of breaking down and replacement of the parts.

Now going back to the power source question, while conventional fossil-fuel is the main source of energy in Bangladesh, electric cars can also be charged directly by solar panels. This is the most intriguing part of why Bangladesh's streets should be filled with electric vehicles.

Most buildings constructed in Dhaka in the last decades have rooftop solar panels that come to no use — the homeowners install them just to meet the government condition to be eligible to get grid connectivity. These panels can be used in charging converted electric vehicles. 

This is also the most efficient use of solar cells since there is no AC to DC conversion needed — the panels produce DC (direct current), and the battery also stores DC charge. 

Otherwise, to use solar panels, we have to convert its DC power to AC since the grid supplies AC electricity. Likewise, charging e-vehicles with grid electricity also requires conversion to DC, which leads to waste of power in conversion.

I built several solar powered boats in the last decade and tested them in the major rivers like the Meghna. In smaller arrangements like these, the production cost of solar electricity is only Tk1 per unit (KwH). With battery banks and charging circuits, the cost does not exceed Tk3, much lower than the price of solar electricity produced at privately owned solar power plants in the country that ranges from Tk14-Tk20 per unit.

If EV conversion of combustion engine cars are legalised in Bangladesh, it can be safely assumed that there will be competitions to use the cities' rooftops for capturing solar energy. It will also give birth to a local industry who will be doing the conversions.

Utilising the untapped solar energy potential of the tropical country will naturally lead to lower fuel imports, saving our ever depleting foreign exchange.

Preventing urban air pollution

A 2021 study by the Chemistry Department of Dhaka University found that vehicles powered by fossil fuels account for 50% of the contributors to air pollution in the capital city.

In 2022, IQAir, a Swiss air-monitoring organisation, noted that most public vehicles in Bangladesh are used for prolonged periods without proper engine maintenance, intensifying the level of emissions into the atmosphere. These old engines discharge significant volumes of black soot, sulphur, and other harmful substances and gases, contributing to the high levels of year-round ambient pollution.

According to the State of Global Air 2024 report, air pollution caused over 235,000 deaths in Bangladesh In 2021 alone, underlining a significant public health challenge. The report also found that children under five years old are especially vulnerable, with health effects including premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, and lung diseases.

Converting fossil-fuel vehicles to EVs — that too with low investments — will have a positive impact on this otherwise bleak situation.

It is upon the interim government to take this progressive step forward and make necessary policies and regulations allowing for electric conversion, even if there is no support from the donors, because car manufacturers are not going to like it, and there will probably be paid opinions undermining the idea.

The interim government, composed of some extraordinary minds of the country, has to navigate through all these, weigh the advantages, and leave a progressive mark in this sector as well.