Ethiopia bans import of gas cars!

Did you know that in 2024, Ethiopia became the first country to ban imports of fossil fuel powered internal combustion engine vehicles??? I didn’t! 

But that’s what I found out from Martin Krause, the director of the Climate Change Division at the UN Environmental Programme. 

Electric vehicles are cheaper, cleaner, and more accessible for Ethiopians facing long waits and sky-high prices at gas pumps, along with severe air pollution in the capital. 

Although Ethiopia faces a host of challenges to meeting its goal of 500,000 EVs on the road by 2030—around half of its population do not have access to electricity, power outages are frequent, and there are just over 100 charging stations in the country, nearly all in the nation’s capital of Addis Ababa—the country is nonetheless determined to see the clean transportation transition through. The government has ambitious plans underway to address these challenges. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam opened in September, doubling the country’s supply of electricity and driving costs down for consumers. The Ethiopian government has also instituted massive tax exemptions for electric vehicles. This means that new and existing EVs will be powered by cheap, clean energy.

Clearly, EV technology and costs have made remarkable progress, given that Ethiopia has chosen to set ambitious goals for a rapid transition away from gas-powered vehicles despite its infrastructural challenges. And if Ethiopia can do it, then surely here in California, with all of our relative blessings, we can do it, too.