Electric car manufacturing negotiations with China postponed due to coronavirus

CAIRO - 3 February 2020: Minister of Public Business Sector Hisham Tawfik announced the postponement of negotiations with the Chinese Dongfeng Company for the manufacture of the first electric car at El-Nasr Company due to the coronavirus.

Tawfik’s remarks came on the sidelines of the Financial Inclusion conference, indicating that the negotiations will take months.

Tawfiq expressed his hope that there will be two factories in El Nasr to produce electric and traditionals car during 2020.

In October 2019, Egypt’s Minister of Military Production Mohamed al-Assar said that the ministry would produce electric mini-cars, in coordination with Egyptian IMUT company.

The ministry said the new mini-cars, dubbed E-Motion, would be affordable, but would only be allowed to be driven in resorts and compounds. The versions of the mini-cars that would be allowed to be driven on the streets would be announced later, the ministry said.

The ministry also celebrated a new project to manufacture electric buses, in partnership with China’s Foton Motor.

The National Authority for Military Production signed on October 1 an MoU with SSE and Marathon International Limited to build a factory that manufactures electric vehicle charging stations, and recycles batteries.

The move comes as part of the state’s plan to give up the use of fuel vehicles in public transportation and introduce electric ones. The Ministry of Military Production had signed in April an agreement with Foton Motor to produce 2,000 electric buses over 4 years at its Tank Production and Repair Company (Factory 200).

In the same month, the ministry signed an MoU with Geely to produce cars starting September 2019. That was during the president's visit to China to attend the Belt and the Road Summit.