Dubai parks turn into EV charging hubs

Dubai Municipality has unveiled a Dh150 million plan to install electric-vehicle supercharging facilities across 600 public parking spaces at parks, beaches and recreational sites, in a move aimed at widening access to charging beyond roadsides, malls and fuel stations. The scheme, announced on Friday, is being rolled out with Emarat EV Charging Stations Company, known as UAEV, and its first phase will bring 75 supercharging stations serving 150 parking bays within two years.

Public leisure sites added to Dubai’s EV grid

Municipal officials framed the project as part of a broader shift in how public spaces are designed, with parks and beaches being recast as service points within a cleaner urban transport network rather than purely leisure destinations. The authority said the charging units would be distributed across major destination parks, neighbourhood parks and public beaches, with the rollout intended to achieve broad geographic coverage and target high-footfall locations used by residents and visitors.

The initiative also adds a new layer to Dubai’s wider charging build-out at a time when the emirate’s EV market is expanding from a relatively low base into a more visible part of the transport mix. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority said in January that the emirate had more than 1,860 public charging points, including installations developed with public and private partners, while the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has set a national ambition for electric vehicles to account for 50 per cent of vehicles on UAE roads by 2050.

That context matters because the municipality’s scheme is not simply about adding sockets. It is aimed at changing where charging happens and when drivers can do it. By placing superchargers at beaches, parks and family recreation areas, the authorities are trying to fold charging into everyday routines, allowing motorists to top up while spending time outdoors rather than making a separate stop dedicated only to the vehicle. That approach mirrors a wider policy direction in Dubai, where transport, urban planning and public realm design are being tied more closely to sustainability targets and digital infrastructure.

The first phase is modest in relation to the headline figure of 600 parking spaces, but it gives a clearer sense of the implementation path. WAM and other UAE media reports said 75 stations will cover 150 parking bays in the opening stage over the next two years, implying a staged rollout rather than a one-time installation push. Officials did not publicly spell out a full completion date for the wider 600-space programme, leaving open questions over how quickly later phases will move and whether demand patterns at the first sites will influence the pace and location of expansion.

For Dubai Municipality, the programme also reflects a growing reliance on partnerships with specialised operators rather than purely public deployment. The authority linked the plan to the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and said private-sector participation would be central to developing sustainable urban infrastructure. UAEV’s leadership, alongside federal energy officials, presented the agreement as part of a national clean-mobility push that extends charging access into community locations.

The commercial and policy logic is clear enough. EV adoption depends not only on vehicle prices and model availability, but also on whether motorists believe charging is convenient, visible and dependable. Dubai has steadily expanded that ecosystem through DEWA’s Green Charger initiative and through licensed operators, with EV ownership also climbing. DEWA said EV numbers in Dubai had risen to more than 39,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2025, and later updates showed continued infrastructure growth through partnerships and licensing frameworks.

Yet the project also points to the challenges ahead. Supercharging in leisure areas will need careful management of parking turnover, traffic flow, power demand and user pricing if the sites are to serve both EV drivers and ordinary visitors without adding congestion. Public authorities will also have to ensure chargers remain functional and easy to access, an issue that affects confidence in EV ownership as much as the raw number of installed points. None of the public statements released on Friday detailed tariffs, operating hours or how parking management at the new bays would work in practice.