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.
"I used to have a car that ran on petrol but lately fuel quality has been low and prices have gone up," said Kanaan, 42, who had barely been covering his operating costs.
"In the end, I decided to buy an electric car and set up a charging point," he told AFP.
Before the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad nearly two years ago, it was rare to see modern cars in Damascus, particularly after civil war erupted in 2011.
The economy tanked, and imports of new vehicles screeched to a halt due to Western sanctions, which have largely been lifted since the new authorities took power.
When the new authorities came to power and reduced tariffs, some 100,000 cars were imported, before they halted imports of used cars due to concerns over quality.
Not all Syrians can afford to make the switch to electric, with the percentage remaining negligible as most still live in poverty.
![A displaced Syrian girl sweeps rainwater from the floor of her family's tent following a rainstorm at the al-Talae displacement camp in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, on October 29, 2026 [Baderkhan Ahmad/AP Photo]](/s3/files/styles/1037xauto/public/2026-10/1855160_0.jpeg.webp)
