This African country is spearheading EVs after banning new combustion cars

Ethiopia is leading the charge for EVs after banning combustion cars outright.

While the EU and other regions talk about implementing a change like this, Ethiopia is actually doing it.

There are a few caveats, and a few exceptions, but the ban is pretty straightforward.

And one of the reasons why they did it might come as a surprise.

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Why Ethiopia is banning combustion cars

The country has the fifth-highest capital city in the world, with an elevation of around 2,300 meters (7,700 feet) above sea level.

This was one of the contributing factors that made the government decide to ban combustion cars.

Partly because air pollution in the city is pretty bad but mostly because internal combustion cars need oxygen, which can be a scarce commodity when you’re over 7,000 feet above sea level.

According to the government, securing electricity, in the long run, will eventually be cheaper than securing fuel, mainly because you can’t produce oil if you don’t have it – you have to import it – but you can produce electricity.

Ethiopia averages seven to nine hours of sunshine every day, which is pretty good if you want to use solar power to generate electricity.

The idea is to strike deals with manufacturers, especially Chinese ones because they’re the ones leading the EV race, to assemble cars in Ethiopia, thus making them potentially even cheaper.

The ban is already leaving its mark because the city streets (which are getting quieter) are packed with Chinese-made EVs, including the ultra-cheap BYD Seagull (pictured below), and even models that would be rare even in the US, like the Cadillac Lyriq or the Toyota bZ (pictured above).

What makes this ‘experiment’ unique is the fact that the ban was enforced pretty much overnight.

In January 2024, the government implemented the ban on imports of fully built internal combustion passenger cars.

And they enforced it immediately.

The ban didn’t apply to vehicles that were already in the country. Those can still be driven and registered.

Interestingly, there are no exceptions for diplomats or anyone else: if you live in Ethiopia, you cannot import a new Ferrari Amalfi (random example), even if you’re the highest-paid soccer star in the country or a US ambassador.

Charging these cars is still the main challenge

Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, has total or partial blackouts almost daily, which is not ideal when you’re trying to encourage people to buy EVs.

They don’t last long, but it’s obviously still a problem, especially outside of the capital and in remote areas of the country.

Most hotels and residential buildings have backup generators to keep the power running, but sometimes that’s still not enough.

Ethiopia’s ICE ban has often been described as an all-in experiment, but it’ll probably take a few more years to figure out whether the experiment was a total success or not.