Nepal's EV Supply Crisis: Buy Now or Wait?
China's border chaos and new import duties have slashed Nepal's EV supply 24%. Here's what buyers should do before NAIMA 2026 opens Aug 11.
The Bridge That Broke Nepal's EV Boom
On July 8, 2025, a flash flood on the Lhende River swept away the Miteri (Friendship) Bridge at Kerung — one of Nepal's three principal trade gateways with China. More than a year later, the damage is still throttling Nepal's electric vehicle supply chain, and the timing could not be worse: NAIMA Nepal Mobility Expo 2026 opens in Kathmandu on August 11, and dealers are scrambling to get showroom-ready stock across a border that still isn't working properly.
This isn't a one-off hiccup. It's a full-blown Nepal EV import crisis that is now colliding with a second shock — a new, steeper duty structure from the FY 2082/83 budget — to squeeze supply and prices at the same time.
Why Imports Are Down: The Numbers
The customs data tells the story plainly. In the first half of the current fiscal year, Nepal's EV imports fell 14.47 percent compared to the same period last year. For the full fiscal year that closed in mid-July, the decline widened to roughly 24 percent year-on-year — a sharp reversal for a market that had been growing at triple-digit rates just two years ago.
| Metric | First Half FY 2082/83 | Change YoY |
| Total EV units imported | 5,698 | -14.47% |
| Import value | Rs 14 billion | — |
| Units from China | 4,360 | -22.64% |
| Value from China | Rs 10.76 billion | — |
| Units from India | 913 | — |
| Value from India | Rs 1.95 billion | — |
Three Border Points, Zero Full Capacity
Nepal's EV supply chain runs through three northern crossings with China — and as of early August 2026, none of them is operating at full capacity:
- Kerung (Rasuwagadhi): The main artery for containerised cargo, including most EVs. The temporary Bailey bridge installed in January after the 2025 flood is functional but constrained by winter snowfall history and irregular customs clearance hours.
- Tatopani: Shut intermittently by landslides on the Chinese side. A Himalayan Motrox executive told reporters their new Maxus model is currently stranded at Tatopani, with rerouting through Kerung adding fresh documentation delays and transport costs.
- Korala (Mustang): A high-altitude, low-capacity crossing never designed for volume car traffic. BYD's distributor Cimex Inc has still routed more than 2,000 vehicles through Korala since last September after concluding Kerung and Tatopani would not reopen in time.
Dealers Are Rerouting — At a Cost
Cimex Inc, the authorised BYD distributor, says it could not import 400 to 500 EVs it had planned to bring in during the last fiscal year purely because of border disruption — not weak demand. Managing director Yamuna Shrestha's experience is echoed across the industry: vehicles that should take weeks to arrive are taking months, and every reroute through Korala or delayed Kerung shipment adds cost that eventually lands on the sticker price.
Duties Pile On: The CIIF Tax Effect
The supply shock landed on top of Nepal's biggest EV tax overhaul in a decade. The FY 2026-27 budget scrapped the old excise-duty system and introduced the Clean Infrastructure Investment Fee (CIIF), layered on top of a flat 20 percent customs duty, 5 percent road construction fee, and 13 percent VAT. CIIF itself ranges from 2.5 percent for affordable EVs to as high as 130 percent for premium imports.
Combine higher duties with tripled freight charges and a Nepali rupee that has weakened to roughly Rs 150 per US dollar, and the result is straightforward: landed costs are up before a single EV even reaches a Kathmandu showroom.
Buy Now or Wait for NAIMA 2026?
This is the question flooding BijuliSawari's inbox this week, and the honest answer depends on your budget bracket.
| Your Budget | Recommendation | Why |
| Under Rs 30 lakh (entry/mid EVs) | Buy now if you've found your model | CIIF impact is mild (2.5–8%); budget EV supply has stayed comparatively steady via Korala reroutes |
| Rs 30–50 lakh (mid-range SUVs) | Watch the NAIMA launches (Aug 11–17) | Dozens of new entrants are competing hardest in exactly this bracket — fresh pricing could reset the segment |
| Above Rs 50 lakh (premium EVs) | Expect further increases | CIIF scales up to 130% here, and border delays hit premium stock hardest since flagship models often arrive as low-volume, non-containerised shipments |
What Hasn't Changed: The Running-Cost Math
Even with higher purchase prices, the case for going electric in Nepal hasn't weakened where it counts most — monthly running costs. An EV owner charging at NEA's residential tariff typically spends NPR 1,000–2,000 a month on electricity for average city driving, against NPR 15,000–25,000 a month for petrol at current pump prices. Over three years of ownership, that gap alone is worth roughly NPR 4–7 lakh — often enough to offset a meaningful chunk of whatever the new duties and freight costs added to the purchase price.
The Bottom Line
Nepal's EV story hasn't stalled — it's been rerouted, literally, through a mountain pass in Mustang. Supply is tighter and prices are firmer than a year ago, but the underlying economics of driving electric in Nepal are intact. The smartest move is the same one it always was: run the real numbers for your specific situation before you decide.
Use BijuliSawari's free EMI and Total Cost of Ownership calculators to see exactly what an EV will cost you — purchase price, financing, and running costs combined — before you commit at a NAIMA or NADA showroom this month.