Adnoc Distribution, the UAE's largest fuel and convenience retailer, is open to providing services for driverless vehicles, chief operating officer Klaas Mantel has said.
The Abu Dhabi company is prepared for driverless vehicles due to its vast network, infrastructure and personnel, Mr Mantel said.
“I could well imagine that in future we could serve autonomous cars,” Mr Mantel told The National. “It's not part of what we do today, but petrol stations have evolved into mobility stations and are definitely good places for where that could happen.”
All driverless vehicles in the UAE are electric vehicles as part of the country's Net Zero by 2050 Strategy.
Abu Dhabi already has a fleet of autonomous taxis on its roads, the latest being the Robotaxi service launched by Uber Technologies and WeRide last month. Dubai has granted permits for the testing of these vehicles, which are expected to be operational this year.
Meanwhile, Mr Mantel is monitoring the markets where motorists are switching to electric vehicles. He said Adnoc Distribution is considering opening EV charging stations in Saudi Arabia. It has already opened one in Egypt on a trial basis and last week opened the region's biggest superfast EV charging station in Abu Dhabi.
“If there is a regulatory environment that is supportive … it's very much part of our strategy,” Mr Mantel said. “We're a mobility company. In some ways we're energy agnostic. If the market goes to electric, we'll go there.”
The UAE continues to embrace smart transport as part of its future mobility strategy. The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure aims for 50 per cent of all vehicles on the country's roads to be battery-electric by 2050.
Across the UAE, PwC estimates that, by 2030, EVs will have a market share of more than 15 per cent (about 58,000 vehicles) of new passenger car and light commercial vehicle sales. That number is expected to rise to 25 per cent by 2035, which is equal to about 110,500 vehicles.
Demand is forecast to reach 45,000 charging points by 2035 if the UAE’s National Electric Vehicles Policy target for the share of EVs on the road is to be met, it said in the report in 2024. But at the current rate of roll-out, as of 2024, there will only be 10,000 charging points in the UAE by 2035, it added.
“EVs tick many of the boxes – the total cost of ownership, less moving parts, lower maintenance costs, the carbon footprint and the drivability of these vehicles,” Mr Mantel said.
“If we build the infrastructure on the key routes where people need it, we believe we can play a good supporting role to help the nation electrify and thereby meet the sustainable development goals.”
Adnoc Distribution is also working on other sustainable fuels. It currently has a service to allow vehicles to use natural gas and has recently trialled hydrogen gas on buses, Mr Mantel said.
“We've been working on these,” he said. “But the economics, frankly, are challenging for those kinds of new energies. We're open to it, but for now we believe that electricity is the way to go.”
