Riyadh –
For Hamed al-Rafidain, a human resources officer in Saudi Arabia, an electric car offers welcome savings, especially since his other car is the type of fuel-guzzling four-wheel drive popular among drivers in the desert kingdom.
The 39-year-old is part of a small but growing group of electric car consumers in Saudi Arabia, which hopes to become a technology hub as it seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.
While the electric car market in the world’s largest oil exporter remains small compared with the United States and China, it tripled last year to nearly 800 vehicles, according to Saudi business daily Al-Iqtisadiyah.
