Abu Dhabi is set to host the Middle East and North Africa’s first summit on electric vehicles this summer.

It will be held from May 23 to 25 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The meeting – named as Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit (Evis) – will attract a lot of prominent players in this field. It will also focus on environmental responsibility, the organisers of the event said.

Discussions will also revolve around new energy vehicles, infrastructure, batteries, energy etc.

The electronic vehicle (EV) market has witnessed a boost in the past decade, with sales more than doubling to 6.6 million in 2021 globally, a report by the Clean Energy Business Council said.

This shift in demand comes as people are switching to eco-friendly alternatives than relying on vehicles that burn fuel extensively.

The report also says that in 2012, around 130,000 EV cars were sold in a year; the same number of EV cars are sold in a week now.

EV now holds around nine per cent of the total global market share in the car industry, which was 4.1 per cent in 2020 compared to 2.5 per cent in 2019, the International Energy Agency said.

The UAE is set on its goal to extensively minimize carbon emissions by 2050. An initiative (Net Zero by 2050) was started for which the country invested Dh600 billion ($163.37bn).

Abu Dhabi Department of Energy outlined nine initiatives in November 2021 to help in the sustainable economic growth of the country during the UN’s Cop26 climate talks held in Glasgow.

Prominent and leading car industry figures will be exhibiting at Evis. This includes GMC of the US, Mercedes-Benz from Germany and Tesla, the world’s biggest EV manufacturer.

The summit will be attended by around 600 delegates, 200 exhibitors and witness a footfall of about 5,000 visitors. Also, there’s an intention to turn it into an annual event.