Damascus taxi drivers adopt electric vehicles amid rising fuel costs

Taxi drivers in Damascus are increasingly switching to electric vehicles, primarily Chinese-made models, to combat rising petrol prices and fuel shortages. The shift follows a recent 26 percent jump in petrol costs and concerns over declining fuel quality.

Following the removal of Bashar al-Assad and the subsequent lifting of many Western sanctions, the Syrian automotive market has seen a surge in imports. Approximately 100,000 vehicles entered the country after new authorities reduced tariffs, though imports of used cars were later halted due to quality concerns.

While the transition offers significant savings, such as reducing the cost of a 200-kilometer trip from $26 in petrol to $6 in electricity, the switch remains inaccessible to much of the population living in poverty. To mitigate issues with the state power grid and occasional outages, some drivers have installed private solar charging stations.