SASO Studies Technical Mechanisms for Introducing Electric and Hybrid Vehicles to the Kingdom to Promote Environmentally-Friendly Economies in the Kingdom
Eng. Abdullah bin Awad Al-Qahtani, Deputy Governor of Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, confirmed that the Kingdom keeps pace with the global trend to rely on environmentally-friendly economies. He said that there is no choice but to strongly participate in activating and strengthening those efforts, through discussing specific technical mechanisms of this matter with relevant bodies, since a great responsibility lies on specialists and officials, in their respective fields, to implement these trends in line with the ambitious Vision of the Kingdom in 2030, as well as the programs and initiatives of the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020. His words came during a speech he delivered on behalf of the Governor of SASO, Dr. Sa'ad bin Othman Al-Kasabi, at the opening of a workshop on electric and hybrid vehicles, which was held at SASO's headquarters in Riyadh with the participation of representatives of six major international vehicle manufacturers.
Eng. Al-Qahtani pointed out that the success of electric and hybrid vehicles' experiences in a number of countries around the world confirms the possibilities of working together to provide more efficient, but less energy-consuming, products, which have no significant adverse impacts on environment. He indicated that climatic conditions, of the Kingdom and Gulf countries in general, were one of the main reasons behind delays in introducing this area, as clear and specific results about the possibility of the suitability of this kind of vehicles to climatic conditions were not reached. However, some Gulf and Arab countries' experiences in this area, such as the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Jordan, represented a motivation to study this matter in depth and discuss ways to support, strengthen presence, and provide technical and legislative structures for these technologies in cooperation with all relevant bodies, inside and outside the Kingdom, he continued.
"SASO is constantly working, with GSO, to keep up with the latest and most important technologies in the auto industry, as it has issued (102) technical regulations and (500) Saudi standards for vehicles and tires. In addition, SASO has updated the Saudi Technical Regulation (SASO GSO 42: 2015) "Motor Vehicles: General Requirements" which obligates all vehicle manufacturers to include a number of safety requirements. Being the most prominent, airbags for the driver and front passenger were included as a requirement. Also, the requirements included the obligation to provide vehicles with an anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC), and brake override system (BOS)," he added.
"As for hybrid vehicles' field, the regulation included many requirements on their regard. The rest of regulations are being updated to include this kind as well. Moreover, the GSO is issuing Gulf certificates of conformity of hybrid vehicles, so as to allow these kinds of vehicles to be introduced to Gulf countries' markets. Gulf Technical Subcommittee for Vehicles and Tires has also prepared a draft on Technical Regulation of Electric Vehicle Project, which includes the most important technical requirements. The draft was distributed to manufacturers to provide views, and is expected to be completed before the end of this year," he continued.