The big automotive brands maintain their plan to promote electric vehicles in Mexico, however, due to prices and lack of infrastructure, electric units represent only 0.5% of all light vehicles in circulation in the country.
According to the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry, from 2016 to 2022, the number of electric cars sold is 8,217, in December 2022 with the highest electric vehicles sold 1,261.
For Víctor Manuel Villalobo, Electromobility Advisor of the National Chamber of Electrical Fabrication (CANAME), one of the challenges facing the electric vehicle segment is the lack of charging stations in the region.
“One of the main challenges to adopting an electric mobility system also lies in the lack of infrastructure in private spaces that allow vehicle charging in homes, apartments and residential areas,” he explained.
Currently, there are a total of 1,146 stations in Mexico, and Mexico City has 23%, which are 271 places for electric vehicles, according to AMIA.
He is worried about the figures when comparing the number of stations in other countries, such as in the Netherlands, which has a total of 58, 500 stations, or Germany, which has 24, 600 units. In addition, in our neighborhood, the United States of America, last year announced an investment of 5 billion dollars to install 500,000 stations throughout the country.
For Enrique Álvarez, Manager of the Energy Savings Program of the Electricity Sector of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the rise of electric vehicles in Mexico will have great importance in the future, the arrival of new Asian companies and the importance given to the country in the production of cars.
“The second increase in the coming years is estimated that by 2041 there will be approximately 700,000 electric vehicles in circulation in the country. This means that, in order to satisfy the energy demand, 40,000 emission stations are necessary,” he pointed out.
From all the companies that have an electric model, the average price of a vehicle without carbon emission ranges between 1 million and 100 thousand pesos. The figure is far from the average transaction price of combustion vehicles in the country, which is 464,000 pesos, according to JD Power consultancy.
The company that has the cheapest electric vehicle on the market is JAC, with a base price of 439 thousand pesos. But only the electric vehicle under half a million pesos, in addition to which the offer of premium companies such as Audi, Volvo, BMW and Mercedes Benz is maintained.
For Israel Hurtado, president of the Mexican Association of Hydrogen and Sustainable Mobility, Mexico has great potential in the electric mobility market, however, fiscal support is still needed, from the government and infrastructure for consumers to opt for the purchase of an electric vehicle.
“Tesla’s gigafactory tool helps a lot, but more incentives are needed and the electric disk industry still needs to be developed more,” said Hurtado.
The importance of electric cars in Mexico is developing at an advanced rate, however, there is another importance for maintenance and repair services. This is despite the fact that electric vehicles do not have the various elements of a traditional combustion car such as: spark plug, exhaust, engine water radiator, in addition to the fact that there is a direct transmission and no gearbox.
According to the insurer AXA, repairs to damaged electric vehicles are more expensive and have some components that are much more vulnerable, such as lithium batteries, the main element of an electric vehicle, which has an average cost of 150,000 pesos. They also incorporate technologies such as sensors, cameras, radars and other things that are more expensive to repair. In addition, the offer of mechanics and technicians specializing in this type of vehicle is to be considered.
