Tesla-Audi cars start hitting the Bangladesh streets

Swimming with the tide in the outside world, the luxurious electric vehicles (EVs) of the global automobile giants are gaining a foothold in Bangladesh, though at a snail’s pace.

The electric car market gained momentum here in the previous year when the government authorised the vehicles' operation in the country and cleared other complexities. The number of high-end electric cars now exceeded half a hundred, Prothom Alo reports.

Global EV industry leader Tesla has stolen the show in the completely new market in the South Asian country. It is now no surprise to see Tesla cars plying the city streets. Also, European brands Audi,  Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche each maintain a fair share in the electric car market there.  

The global electric car market is quite big now, but Bangladesh still lags behind in the context of import and use of moving electric luxuries.

Car dealers said the import of electric cars began five years ago, but the buyers failed to get the vehicles registered with the road transport authority in the following years. Hence, the already imported cars were being used to travel short distances evading the surveillance of law enforcers.

According to Chattogram customs sources, a car dealer – Royal Motors of Dhaka – imported the maiden unit of Tesla EV in 2017 at a cost of Tk 11.3 million. Its cost totalled Tk 21 million with the customs duties. Later, four other units of Tesla EV were imported in the following years.

Of them, TBH Company brought two electric cars while Big Automobiles and RPM Motors brought one car each.

Tesla earned USD 81.5 billion by selling 1.3 million electric cars across the world in the previous year. Its chief executive Elon Musk is now the world’s second top rich.

Each unit of Porsche Taycan costs USD 55,000 to 70,000 for import while the amount stands at Tk 13.6 million to 16.2 million with the import duties. Importing a Mercedes-Benz electric car costs more or less Tk 15 million.
The import of Tesla cars has been undisclosed to date due to various reasons. Progress Motors, however, broke the glass ceiling last month and officially announced to import and market electric cars of German model Audi e-tron. It has so far imported 28 vehicles.

The Audi e-tron cars can travel a maximum stretch of 300 kilometres after a full charge. It can accelerate to its maximum speed within seconds.

Apart from Tesla and Audi, nine electric cars of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz each have recently been imported. Also, two units of MG ZS brand have been brought here.

Each unit of Porsche Taycan costs USD 55,000 to 70,000 for import while the amount stands at Tk 13.6 million to 16.2 million with the import duties. Importing a Mercedes-Benz electric car costs more or less Tk 15 million.

However, these cars sell at a significantly higher price than their import costs.

The market of oil-powered cars is still dominated by low-cost ones. On the flip side, the country entered the era of eco-friendly electric vehicles with the import of cars worth more than Tk 15 million. The use of luxurious cars is increasing at a time when the economic crisis is taking a turn for the worse here.