KATHMANDU: Electric vehicle (EV) imports have dropped sharply over the first two months (mid-July to mid-September) of the current fiscal year 2025/26.
According to foreign trade data released by the Department of Customs (DoC) on Tuesday, EV imports fell 69.79% year-on-year to just 486 units.
Nepal had imported 1,602 units in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
The total value of EVs imported in the two-month period was Rs 1.27 billion. The government mobilized Rs 867 million in revenue from these imports, according to the DoC.
Although automobile distributors have placed orders for more than 2,000 EV units, many shipments have been held up at the border due to closure of roads to the two border points with China.
The total EV imports during the period is even lower than the number of unassembled Hyundai Creta and Venue units imported during the same period. Laxmi Intercontinental, the authorized distributor of Hyundai in Nepal, imported 682 units over the past two months.
Automobile distributors have attributed the sharp drop in EV imports to the closure of the Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani border points along Nepal-China border since the third week of June due to floods and landslides. Although automobile distributors have placed orders for more than 2,000 EV units, many shipments have been held up at the border due to closure of roads to the two border points with China.
With the two border points shut for months, importers have begun bringing imported goods from China, inluding EVs, from the Korala border in Mustang.
