Design of energy storage vehicle in Laos

The type approval or permission for imports can continue to be granted based on this new form submitted by the vehicle OEMs or importers. The EVs that are imported in Lao PDR are categorized as “clean energy vehicles” for import and taxation purposes.

The EV ecosystem in Lao PDR includes the government, EV supply chain stakeholders, EV charging system and its participants, transport sector service providers, vehicle financing institutions and influencers (Figure 16).

In the Lao context, an e-mobility transition will contribute to reducing demand for fossil fuels, thereby addressing macro- economic issues such as energy security and balance of payments, as the country suffers from a trade deficit and fuel demand represents 32.7% of total imports.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are not new to Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). EV programs of varying formats have been implemented in different cities of the country (often as pilot initiatives) for both public and private use, with mixed success. Some of the recent EV interventions include the following:

Technical experts and relevant machinery are non-existent for a vehicle testing facility in Lao PDR, and there are no safety regulations, components and vehicle labeling yet for EVs. The consultant visited the Mahuran Japan Bank Lao on September 5, 2019 to better understand how vehicles are financed in Lao PDR.

The vehicle stock is the sum of the number of old vehicles, replacement and new purchases made by the users. The replacement rates for different vehicle segments have been considered for estimating the vehicle market size and its growth (Table 15). Currently, EV deployment in Lao PDR is in a nascent stage.