Recently Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced the transformation of 90% of all limousines to hybrid or electric vehicles by 2026 in Dubai. The main reason for going green is that as many car makers in Dubai are adding eco-friendly options to their cars for sale.

Executed on the guidelines of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Mahtoum, this initiative expects to cut down power utilization in the UAE so as to sustain the environment. This change of limousines into eco-friendly vehicles is the first-of-its-kind activity around the world.

This activity will be finished through the span of 7 years. According to the plan, the quantity of green limousines will increment from 6% to 10% in the year 2020 and achieve 20% by the year 2021. This number will gradually increment to 30% green limousines by 2022, 40% in 2030, 55% in 2024, and lastly achieve the target of 90% in 2026.

To the Dubai Police fleet as well these eco-friendly vehicles were added recently.

Director General and Chairman of the Board of Director of RTA, Mattar Al Tayer expressed that “The step is part of a master plan to control carbon emissions of taxis and limos by 2 percent as required by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and the Green Economy drive. It additionally comes in the fallout of fuel deregulation policy and the minimal cost of electric/hybrid vehicles life span compared with fuel-powered vehicles.”

He additionally expressed that there are about 6500 limousines in Dubai claimed by more than 100 companies. These limos travel almost 400 km each day, resulting in 44 tons of carbon discharges per year.

He also featured that using electric cars can result in about AED 20,000 in financial savings per year without any emissions. Meanwhile, using hybrid cars can lead to almost AED 30,000 in savings and lower emissions by 40%. He went on to say that the RTA will offer a 25% discount for the initial year on the monthly franchise fees on electric vehicles. These vehicles will also have access to bus lanes.

By the year 2021, another initiative by the RTA is to transform 50% of taxis into eco-friendly vehicles.