Muscat – Mays Motors, in cooperation with Oman Technology Fund, launched the sultanate’s first electric car at Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz-Carlton Hotel, on Sunday. Priced at RO25,000, hundred units have been pre-booked in the first stage of production.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Haider bin Adnan al Zaabi, co-founder of Mays Motors, said, “We are proud to unveil Oman’s first electric car – Mays iE1 – today.”

According to Zaabi, Mays Motors’ electric car is the beginning of a new and promising sector in the sultanate. “We have a team with more than 15 years of experience in the automotive field and are offering an opportunity to establish the first factory for the electronic car industry in the sultanate with an investment of RO5mn.”

Zaabi claimed he and the Mays Motors team visited more than 130 car factories across Italy, Germany, China , USA, and India to arrive at the final design and specifications of Mays iE1, and that experts at Tesla, Maserati, BMW and Porsche have complimented the design of the car. “They predict global success for Mays iE1. It can accelerate from zero to 100km in a less than four seconds”

The two-seater has a large dash with displays and controls, including door functions. Its battery can be charged at home and has a driving range of 500km+.

Zaabi described the car with a carbon fibre body as “loaded with a lot of technology similar to international brands such as Lamborghini and Ferrari”.

Though the starting is RO25,000, “similar cars abroad cost anywhere near RO50,000”, Zaabi said.

He informed that the car complies with international standards and specifications.
Zaabi informed that the company is currently operating in a small factory in Barka. “We will start production at the end of 2023. We expect to make about 600 cars in the first five years. We have hired international marketing experts to promote our car.”

Zaabi is hopeful that manufacturing of the electric car will contribute to building an integrated system of industries related to the automotive sector in the sultanate, exploiting locally available raw material and creating more than 800 job opportunities for small and medium companies.

“The company also has plans to make electric motors for boats.”

Mays Motors has signed a cooperation agreement with the Renewable Energy Research Centre at Sultan Qaboos University to validate the sustainability of self-charging technology.

“We call on investors in Oman to invest in the car manufacturing industry, not for Oman only, but for profitability as well. Our revenue forecast for the first five years is over RO20mn. With further expansion, the value of the company is expected to increase to RO100mn in the next ten years,” Zaabi said.