Saudi Arabia — moving to local production of electric vehicles
Doron Peskin, Ofer Shoshan
When it comes to economic development plans, Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman thinks outside the box. According to reports, the oil kingdom hired senior consultants to help it set up a local electric vehicle industry. This is another move in an attempt to diversify the kingdom’s sources of income beyond the oil sector.
This is not the first time the kingdom’s name has been linked to the electric vehicle. During 2018, the “Public Investment Fund”, the government’s investment arm, invested in Tesla. However, after Musk did not take Tesla private, the focus of the Saudi Public Investment Fund turned to Lucid Motors, a company considered one of the top competitors to Tesla. It has previously been reported that the Saudis are interested in setting up a Lucid plant in Jeddah.
Obviously, the vast desert areas in Saudi Arabia are perfect for installing huge solar farms that in turn can power electric vehicles.
