Pakistan, June 15 -- The government's recent push to finalise Pakistan's Electric Vehicles (EV) Policy 2025 comes with familiar fanfare: Rs50,000 in subsidies for electric bikes, Rs200,000 for rickshaws, a Rs4 billion fund to back it all, and promises of 3,000 charging stations dotting the landscape. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's call for urgency is welcome. No qualms about that. So is the policy's intent: reduced fuel imports, greener cities, and industrial revival. Yet, behind the glossy brochures and rhetorical drive lies a sobering question: Will this be another policy that runs out of charge before it leaves the showroom?

To give credit where due, Pakistan has already licensed 57 electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Tariffs on pub...