A tiny Himalayan kingdom that’s long been fiercely protective of its ancient Buddhist traditions wants to transform its capital into an electric car city. Tshering Tobgay, prime minister of Bhutan, said this week that the city of Thimpu would start replacing all official government vehicles (paywall) with the Nissan Leaf. Taxis and private cars will eventually be replaced with electric cars made within the country.


b_b:

The big surprise to me here is that they plan to manufacture their own vehicles. I'm surprised that a small, poor, landlocked country could pull something like that off, given that electric cars aren't exactly cheap or easy to manufacture. Importing Leafs (Leaves?) seems like the better solution here. It's definitely a commendable goal and I wish them luck, but if the world's biggest, most knowledgeable, multinational auto giants can't build a cheap, reliable, safe electric car, I fear for Bhutan's chances.


posted 3798 days ago