Weekly Roundup: 1st-12th January
- Lahore electric tram on the cards
- Karachi’s green line starts operating fully
- EV sales 2021 round-up
Mass Transit
Karachi’s Green Line buses hit the road
With a fleet of 80 buses and 22 stations, the Green Line bus service in Karachi has become fully operational. The bus service began its operations for the people of Karachi after almost six years since its groundbreaking. The duration of fully operational bus service is from 7 am to 10 pm daily. Read more about it here.
BRT Peshawar to add new buses to the fleet to accommodate more people
The Bus Rapid Transit System Peshawar is adding more buses to its fleet to accommodate more passengers. KP’s Minister for Finance and Health, Mr. Taimur Saleem Khan Jhangra announced the news after asking the public’s opinion on the mass transit system. He said the addition of new buses will lessen the difficulties faced by passengers. Read more about it here.
KP announces plan to build International standard bus terminal in Peshawar
To cater to the massive influx of travelers in KP, the local government has announced the start of construction work on an international standard bus terminal. Minister for Local and Rural Development, Faisal Amin Khan announced the project cost as Rs. 3.6 billion. Reportedly, the new bus terminal will be constructed on 300 Kanals of land outside the city. Read more about it here.
An Electrified Future
CM Punjab orders launch of Lahore electric tram
The Government of Punjab is considering the launch of Pakistan’s first electric tram service in Lahore. Under Chief Minister Punjab, Sardar Usman Buzdar’s orders, the work on the environment-friendly electric tramway project will begin on priority. The project will help travelers access motorway while reducing traffic burden on the roads. He directed officials to give final shape to the feasibility report and accelerate the pace of work. Read more about it here.
China EV sales more than doubled in 2021, grew 154%
Electric vehicle sales in China skyrocketed by 154% in 2021 despite a global chip shortage. Electric Vehicle makers sold a total of 3.3 million units in China in 2021, compared to 1.3 million sold in 2020. The surge reflects Beijing’s pivot to electrics and sustainable transport. Check out more about this story here.
EV Sales Yearly Roundup – 2021
Tesla reports 87% growth in 2021
The auto giant, Tesla has reported sales of a whopping 936,000 cars in 2021. The EV maker managed to grow its sales by 87% and thrive despite facing the crushing global chip shortage, an issue that took a major toll on the automotive industry. Earlier in 2021, the automaker became the second fastest company to exceed the $1 trillion market capitalization mark, becoming the most valuable EV brand. Read more about it here.
Kia EV sales reached a new record in 2021
Kia Motors has reported a record sales figure of 701,416 vehicles in 2021, a year-over-year increase of 19.7%. The record sales are courtesy of the successful last quarter when the company sold 145,891 cars. The automaker is expecting an even better sales number in 2022 with the launch of Kia EV6. Read more about it here.
Volkswagen doubled its EV deliveries in 2022, expects a repeat in 2022
Despite an overall decline and missed targets in 2021, Volkswagen AG doubled its EV sales. The German automaker sold more than 450,000 all-electric vehicles and 300,000 hybrid plug-in cars. The company’s plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles sales were at an all-time high. Moreover, Volkswagen’s popular EV model ID.4 crossover topped the BEV charts in many countries in its first year. Read the full story here.
Another strong year for BMW – sales of plug-in cars more than double in 2021
BMW had another successful year and put up record sales. On a year-over-year basis, sales of battery EVs from the brands BMW and MINI doubled. The company’s year-over-year growth was more than 8%. Check out the full story here.
Rivian missed its 2021 target by 15%, sold 1,015 vehicles
The Amazon-backed electric pickup truck maker produced 1,015 cars in the previous year, narrowly missing its manufacturing targets. Earlier in November 2021, the company shared its plan of producing 1,200 R1Ts by the end of the year. However, 1,015 vehicles were produced and 920 were delivered to the customers. The company hopes to fill the gap in 2022. Read more about this story here.
About Us
This week in Transport is a weekly round-up of everything happening in the transportation world; from sustainable transport initiatives to expansion plans, and implementation of an intelligent transport system. Watch this space for more sector news!