📰 Who Will Win the EV Race in the Desert?
Tesla launches in Saudi Arabia, entering a young but fast-growing market already claimed by Lucid and BYD. The battle for the electric driver in the world’s oil capital is officially on.
Saudi Arabia, long known as the stronghold of oil and gas-guzzling SUVs, is now emerging as a new battleground in the electric revolution. Just a few years ago, EVs were a rare sight on the streets of Riyadh or Jeddah. Today, major global players are fighting for market share. And Tesla, surprisingly, is arriving late to the party.
Today Tesla TSLA 0.00%↑ officially opened its operations in the kingdom, showing off the Cybertruck and a refreshed Model Y in a palm-lined plaza. Elon Musk didn’t appear, not in person or even via video, but the launch came with cinematic desert scenes and plenty of fanfare. With pop-up stores, online ordering, and the first few charging stations planned, Tesla is betting big on a region just getting started.
The competition is already here
But this is no empty market. Lucid Motors, backed heavily by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has had a local presence for years. Chinese giant BYD also beat Tesla to the punch and has already planted its flag. That first-mover advantage matters, and experts say Tesla won’t enjoy the dominant head start it had in Europe or the U.S.
The EV market here is still small, just 1% of all cars sold in Saudi Arabia in 2024 were electric. But the ambition is massive: by 2030, the government wants 30% of vehicles in Riyadh to be electric. That’s an aggressive target, especially in a country where the 900-kilometer highway between Riyadh and Mecca doesn’t have a single charging station.
From vision to reality
That’s starting to change. Saudi Arabia’s new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company has plans to roll out 5,000 fast chargers by 2030. Meanwhile, the kingdom is launching its own EV brand, Ceer, in partnership with Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn. Production is set to begin in 2025, aiming at the broader Middle Eastern market.
So no, Tesla isn’t entering a blank slate. This is a growing arena, and the race is well underway. Analysts at S&P Global Mobility expect Tesla to sell 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles in Saudi Arabia over the next two years. Respectable numbers, but not exactly a revolution. And once local and Chinese-made EVs scale up, the pressure will increase fast.
One thing is certain: winning the EV race in the desert will take more than a flashy Cybertruck and a stylish mall kiosk. Charging must be reliable. Service needs to be accessible. And pricing? It’ll have to compete with a market used to luxury and local incentives. Musk is betting on the old rule: scarcity drives desire. But in this part of the world, that theory still needs to prove itself.
Source: CNBC, Reuters
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