Dodging fuel price hikes, Damascus drivers turn to electric cars

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Drivers in Damascus are turning to electric cars, many of them Chinese-made, as fuel shortages and rising petrol prices make conventional vehicles costly to operate. Taxi driver Mohammed Kanaan hopes his new electric car will improve his profits amid ongoing economic strain linked to conflict and regional events.

Taxi driver Mohammed Kanaan drives his shiny new electric car around Damascus's rundown streets, hoping for higher profits as spiking petrol prices made his old car too expensive to run. He is among some in the Syrian capital who are steering towards electric cars -- mostly Chinese-made -- after repeated fuel shortages during the country's civil war and petrol price hikes, most recently due to the Middle East war.