ISLAMABAD - Pakistani businessman Nawabzada Kalam Ullah Khan had been planning to swap his family's petrol-powered cars for electric models for years.
But it wasn't until a set of massive tax cuts came into effect in July that the 29-year-old from Pakistan's capital Islamabad finally put in an order for two electric cars.
"Someone has to take the initiative to switch to these cost-efficient, environment-friendly vehicles in the face of increasing pollution in big cities - and we've done it," Khan said.
His new cars, he said now cost about five times less to run day to day than his old vehicles, a major incentive to make the switch.
Major Pakistan and Indian cities are struggling with dangerous levels of air pollution, with Pakistan's Lahore this week declared the most polluted city in the world.
Heavy use of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles for transport combined with smoke from seasonal crop burning make the problem particularly severe at this time of year.
But Pakistan's electric vehicle push is picking up speed, nearly two years after the country launched its ambitious green policy, which envisions a shift to 30% electric cars and trucks nationwide by 2030, and 90% by 2040.
Key to the shift are hefty tax exemptions for both electric vehicles imports and imports of parts and equipment to build the cars in Pakistan.
That has helped make the vehicles more affordable, industry figures said, as Prime Minister Imran Khan's government pushes ahead with its plan to cut carbon...
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