Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (Dewa), which became the first public body to invest in electric vehicles in the country, is set to expand its fleet of electric vehicles.

Currently, Dewa owns about 8 electric cars, but an official confirmed to Emirates 24|7 that the number is expected to rise to 16 by the end of next year.

“Our idea is to propagate the concept of green vehicles. We recently announced that we had gone in for eight new electric cars. The cars are being rolled out for use by Dewa staff for regular maintenance trips and other internal use,” the official said.

The move comes as Dewa has announced its plans to expand the number of electric charging stations across the emirates.

While it has already installed 16 charging stations in select locations, including Dubai Silicon Oasis, Al Quoz, Al Wasl and Umm Ramool, there are plans to add another 84 additional stations taking the total number to 100.

Dewa says it has been preparing the emirate in terms of infrastructure development in co-ordination with key stakeholders such as Dubai Airports, Dubai Municipality, Road and Transportation Authority, shopping malls, petrol stations, hotels, and car parks.

While Dubai Silicon Oasis was the first development to get electric charging stations Dewa says it is in discussion with property developers such as Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Property Group to jointly identify locations for the charging stations in areas that can be served by electric vehicles.

Announcing the initial set of electric vehicles Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chief executive of Dewa had said that the idea is to encourage more private participation.

“We are confident that the infrastructure of charging stations will encourage the public and sectors in Dubai to deploy electric vehicles in its operations, and we hope individuals will also join the initiative gradually.”

The electric cars owned by Dewa are priced at around Dh110,000 and can travel for about 120km with a fully charged battery.

“There are cars currently available in the market that can run for up to 450km when fully charged. As cell technology keeps improving, there would be newer and more powerful models that will be rolled out. Expect some major changes during the next four to five years,” said the Dewa official who was demonstrating a concept charging station at the Gitex Technology Week stand in Dubai last week.

Dewa will install two main types of public charging stations. Fast Charge Points will enable 80 per cent of charge within 20 to 45 minutes depending on the type of car and battery capacity and will be located at petrol stations.

However other Public Charge Points will provide a full charge in 2 to 4 hours and would be installed in public locations such as shopping malls, hotels, car parks, etc.

Dewa has also launched a new feature where electric car owners can apply and get a home charge port installed at their private residence within villas. The Home Charge Points fully charge vehicles over in 6 to 8 hours.