Chinese electric vehicles underpin mobility in Yemen
Sanaa (ANTARA) – For years, Saddam al-Sharabi has started his mornings with the same worry: fuel.
As a delivery driver in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, he would often lose entire days searching for fuel, stuck in long queues at petrol stations stretching for several blocks.
Every hour spent not working meant reduced income for his family in a country where survival is measured day-to-day.
Now, each night he simply plugs his Chinese-made electric truck into a power source and waits for the battery to charge.
“I no longer wake up anxious about fuel,” al-Sharabi said according to Xinhua.
“I just charge the vehicle and get on with my work. It has changed everything for me.”
Across war-torn Yemen, where a decade-long civil war has devastated the economy and caused chronic fuel shortages, Chinese-made electric vehicles have unexpectedly found a foothold. They are not embraced as symbols of environmental progress but as essential tools.
Delivery drivers, farmers, traders, and small business owners are switching to electric trucks and pickups because they offer something increasingly scarce in Yemen: certainty.
Fuel supplies can vanish overnight, and prices spike without warning. Although the electricity supply is unreliable, for many Yemenis, charging vehicles at home using solar panels or local power sources is now easier than finding petrol.
Moreover, the growing popularity of these vehicles is supported by other Chinese exports that have rapidly spread across Yemen during the war: solar energy systems.
As the national power grid deteriorates, households and businesses are increasingly turning to Chinese-made solar panels and batteries, building a foundation of trust that electric vehicle dealers have quickly capitalised on.
Yemen remains divided between north and south, with Houthi rebels controlling Sanaa and most of the north, while the internationally recognised government and its allies hold the south.
Nevertheless, essential goods continue to flow across the divided regions, usually entering through Aden, the main port in southern Yemen. Electric trucks and solar panels are now among the most sought-after imports.
“Yemenis have trusted Chinese products because they have proven highly successful in the solar energy sector,” said Ali Abdullah al-Ghabri, managing director of Al-Raabi Autocars, a Sanaa dealership with a collection of electric pickups and commercial trucks in its showroom.
According to Ali, Chinese vehicles offer relatively affordable prices and low operating costs, which are crucial in an economy where aid is scarce.
For Abdul Fattah al-Hammadi, a businessman who recently bought a Chinese-made electric pickup, the calculation is simple.
“Fuel sometimes disappears entirely, and prices suddenly spike beyond what the average person can afford,” he said. “Now, charging this vehicle is as easy as topping up a phone battery.”
At Al-Raabi Auto Workshop, Yemeni technicians diagnose vehicle issues using digital systems and, if needed, consult remotely with engineers in China. Munther al-Farran, a technician at the workshop, said this collaboration is slowly building technical expertise in a country where skilled labour has been severely depleted by war.
Government officials are also taking notice. Last week, Mohammed al-Ashwal, Yemen’s internationally recognised industry minister based in Aden, described the opening of BYD’s largest showroom in the southern port city as a sign of restored investor confidence and a reminder of Aden’s commercial significance.
However, economists remain cautious, warning that the shift depends on Yemen’s fragile electricity supply and charging infrastructure meeting demand. Yet some believe perceptions of electric vehicles are changing.
“In Yemen today, electric vehicles are no longer seen as luxury items,” said Khaled al-Sanab, an economist in Sanaa. “For many, they have become an economic necessity.”