Bhutan, Nissan Partner on Electric Cars
22 February 2014 13:04 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has tapped Nissan Motor Co. to supply electric cars for its taxis and government fleet, hoping to reduce reliance on imported oil, as reported by The Cortez Journal.
Under the agreement announced Friday, Nissan will supply its Leaf electric car and set up charging stations in Bhutan.
Bhutan, with a population of 720,000, produces and exports hydro-electricity. But it's eager to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels shipped in from abroad.
The tiny landlocked country was long known for measuring "gross national happiness" instead of traditional indicators of prosperity such as GDP. But since 2013, a new government under Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay has downplayed it as a distraction from problems of poverty and corruption.
The Leaf is the world's best-selling electric car, selling a cumulative 100,000 so far since going on sale in late 2010, comprising 45 percent of the global electric vehicle market.
THE CORTEZ JOURNAL | SETIAWAN