00:00This country is going through an electric vehicle boom.
00:03Ethiopia is racing towards a purely electric future.
00:07The government banned the import of gasoline and diesel cars in 2024.
00:12A radical step motivated by soaring oil prices,
00:16there are now over 120,000 electric vehicles on the roads in Ethiopia,
00:21out of a total of 1.5 million cars in the country.
00:25Last year, more than 60% of all new vehicle registrations were electric.
00:30In Germany in 2024, that number was only 13.5%.
00:34In Ethiopia, this share will be even higher in 2026,
00:39as the country has since added more restrictions for conventional trucks.
00:44EVs are quiet, clean and powered by hydropower,
00:48because over 97% of Ethiopia's electricity comes from the renewable resource.
00:53It isn't a smooth path, though.
00:56Nearly half of the population, 63 million people, still lives without electricity.
01:01And charging stations remain scared.
01:03Around 500 in the whole country, most of them in the capital.
01:07Still, the momentum is powerful.
01:09Taxi drivers report saving up to 90% on monthly energy costs after switching to electric.
01:16And new charging operators are popping up, even if power outages remain a challenge.
01:21If the pace continues, this is Africa's boldest move into a future of clean transportation.
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