After the huge increment in prices of petroleum products, numerous articles have appeared in your paper exhorting the promotion of electric vehicles (EV). I agree but is this technology necessarily going to make things better? There is no doubt that at a time when fuel prices are rising, EV technology is more beneficial from the economic and environmental standpoint. There are more than 150,000 fossil-fuel driven vehicles on Kathmandu Valley's limited and congested road network. And that doesn't even include motorcycles. There are only 600 Safa three-wheelers and a few trolley buses. The maximum speeds of EVs on Kathmandu roads rarely travel faster than 30-45 kmph and thereby they compel other vehicles from running at their own optimum speeds, thus increasing their fuel consumption and raising emissions levels. Ultimately, EVs are the way to go but for the interim, we have to think things through before raising the number of electric vehicles to 6,000.

Indra Maharjan,
Kathmandu