For Hamed al-Rafidain, a Saudi human resources worker, an electric vehicle offers welcome savings — especially since his other car is the kind of fuel-guzzling four-wheel drive favored by motorists in the desert kingdom.
The 39-year-old is part of a small but growing EV consumer base in Saudi Arabia, which hopes to become a hub for the technology as it seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.
Although the EV market in the world's largest oil exporter remains small compared with the United States and China, it tripled last year to nearly 800 cars, according to Saudi business news outlet Al-Iqtisadiyah.