Auto manufacturers in the world are now designing and presenting new products powered by electric engines. Do you think that technological limitations have caused Iranian manufacturers to lag behind?

Unlike the case of internal combustion engines, we are not far behind the world’s auto manufacturers with regard to electric vehicles. It is important to acknowledge this point. In fact, what we lag behind is the required infrastructure for production.

Preparing the needed platform for manufacturing electric engines used in automobiles and heavy vehicles such as buses is our biggest challenge. In addition, preparing the infrastructure for producing battery storage can be added to the prior challenge.

The next issue is that we have not yet become independent in designing and manufacturing batteries. In addition, we do not have the necessary mines to supply lithium and cobalt, which are the components of batteries.

Does that mean we don’t have the reserves or there have been no such mine explorations in Iran?

There have been speculations about the possible existence of lithium mines in Sistan and Baluchistan [southeast Iran], but we are not sure yet. However, even if these speculations are true, the amount of lithium in these mines is probably not significant.

Let’s say that MAPNA decides to directly import lithium. Does the conglomerate have the technology for manufacturing batteries?

East Asian countries as well as some African countries have the richest lithium mines. Although the process of producing batteries and their chemicals has a relatively complex technology, we have already achieved this know-how in our own universities and laboratories.

But in order to produce the batteries in a cost-effective way, we need to reach a high-volume production. Achieving this is an important issue in MAPNA because this is how battery production becomes economical and hence, the necessary investments can be made.

“Major automakers should enter the production of electric cars and buses”

So do you think that the equation might change if major automakers enter this field?

That’s true. In order to reach a reasonable price, we must increase the production volume. If major automakers enter the field, the production of the factory will increase; thus we can reach a cost-effective procedure.

Do you think that the need to replace current public transportation with an electric one and also to replace gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles has been accepted in macro policies of the country, or do we still need more efforts in this field?

This has been recently accepted. That is, the Science and Technology Department of the Presidency and the Parliament have accepted the need and various meetings are held for this purpose. Even some acts have been passed in this field, it should be noted that electric vehicles cannot start without subsidies. This subsidy can be spent directly or indirectly, but we know that its necessity is undeniable.

Therefore, in response to your question, I must say that in the practical field of granting facilities and subsidies for the expansion of the EV platforms nothing has happened yet, but they have generally accepted that there is no other choice but to switch to self-driving electric cars in the future.

Furthermore, it should be noted that MAPNA is not a car manufacturer, rather, it produces and implements powertrain and charging systems. In other words, we prepare the platform. Eventually, in order to establish an electric transport system in the country, we need to have a car manufacturer on our side that uses our products.

We did a study two years ago in this field. The results show that there was no car manufacturer in China that did not have an electric car for sale and supply in their product portfolio.

Another point is that the electric cars produced in the world are “native”; this means that they are designed as electric cars from the beginning. While in Iran they may eventually convert gasoline cars to electric ones, which means that the car was not originally designed as an electric one. Although, there are small car manufacturers in the country that import limited electric cars.

Being optimistic, how much will it take for MAPNA Group to electrify a significant number of transit buses considering the environmental pollution of these vehicles?

When we started our work in 2017, we believed that the first area where we could be successful is the field of transit buses; but unfortunately, the work was delayed for two years due to the failure to prepare the grounds.

The first product was unveiled in May 2021 and nowadays this product is going through the usual tests. We are launching the production line of this bus and we hope to produce a large number of buses this year.

Municipalities are welcoming this product, although we are still at the negotiation stage and no contracts have been signed.  Only Mashhad Municipality has ordered 10 buses and we have signed a contract.

Considering the various types of charging methods we support in the field of electric vehicles, we guess that electric buses will take a large share of Iran’s transportation fleet in the next two or three years.

What’s the challenge of electric cars compared to electric buses?

In summer, northern cities have problems with power supply. Imagine how much the problem could exacerbate when a large number of electric cars travel to this region in summer! That’s why I say we have infrastructure challenges that need to be resolved.

That’s a good point. Since we have problems with power generation, how can we produce electric vehicles without facing such problems?

The lack of electricity in Iran is totally 200 hours a year. The whole blackouts we have seen in the past years were 200 hours in total. We have the resources to generate electricity. The main problems are in power supply and power plant equipment. Another point is that there is a serious problem with power transmission and distribution in Iran. If this distribution is done correctly, the problem will be solved to a large extent.

For example, in Germany, they use smart charging, which means people are encouraged to charge their cars during off-peak hours. They have designed integrated and smart energy storage systems. By the way, this policy has worked well, at least I have not seen any report about charging queues or power shortages in Germany.

It should be noted that MAPNA is a manufacturer of power stations, and it has no policy-making responsibility. We have determined the necessary locations for the stations and announced them to the Ministry of Energy, but it must be accepted that this field still needs macro policies of the government.

“Our job is to create a platform for the development of electric vehicles”

In spite of these issues, what is the priority of MAPNA with regard to electric vehicles?

We are working on EV charging systems. The world has passed this stage and now they are moving toward smart cars.

We have done a lot of research in this field. All the chargers we produced include proper payment systems and all their troubleshooting, reporting, and controlling work remotely. The cars we have produced are also connected to this system. The car of the CEO is electric, and the car we delivered to Kerman Motor is also electric.

We must know that the development of this platform has many benefits for the country. In the world, 18 businesses have already been created for digitalization, entertainment, and car health check. These are the side businesses of electric cars that helped to create new jobs. Therefore, imagine how many new job opportunities will arise if this industry is widely launched in Iran.

 “Our dream was to be Tesla of Iran”

What is MAPNA’s biggest dream in the field of electric cars?

When we started the work, we thought that we could create a platform for the production of electric cars in MAPNA, something like Tesla. Most of the major car manufacturers were also forced to follow Tesla’s path. But in Iran, we were not successful to create the path, although our dream is still the same.

We aim to electrify our domestic automobile products based on MAPNA propulsion systems and to reach a high volume in manufacturing electric buses. The dream that we must fight for is to create a different product in terms of style and design; a product that people would love and would be different from what they have seen until now.