New IMF Deal Could Halt Progress on Electromobility in Argentina

In Argentina, the push for electric mobility once seemed, at least rhetorically, like a viable promise.

However, the new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reshuffled the deck.

Among the conditions set to access a new disbursement of credit, the government has decided to eliminate the Federal Electric Transport Trust Fund (FFTEF) and proceed with the privatisation of Energía Argentina S.A. — two key pillars for advancing the energy transition.

The blow is twofold. On the one hand, a tool used to finance the expansion of interprovincial electric transport and to strengthen distribution networks is being dismantled.

On the other hand, the state’s role in overseeing energy infrastructure is being dismantled, with the transfer of Energía Argentina — which currently transports 86% of the country’s electricity — into private hands.

All this is happening in a context where electric vehicles make up less than 1% of Argentina’s vehicle fleet and public chargers are scarce.

“The IMF’s conditions effectively prevent the state from investing in any kind of infrastructure, particularly in the energy sector,” explains Nicolás Malinovsky, Director of the Observatory of Energy, Science and Technology, to Mobility Portal Latinoamérica.

For Malinovsky, eliminating the FFTEF not only means transferring billions of pesos to the Ministry of Economy but also losing a concrete tool for channelling investment into electric mobility.

“The state is left without the tools to sustain a public policy aimed at expanding the grid,” he warns.

Energía Argentina is also under scrutiny.

Its privatisation, included in the Bases Law, raises concerns over who will take the lead on strategic projects requiring long-term vision — such as the expansion of electric corridors or the electrification of public transport.

“There’s no long-term vision for an automotive transition over the next decade,” Malinovsky concludes.

On top of the lack of infrastructure, there’s another structural issue: the absence of planning. One energy mobility expert sums up the situation starkly:

“We’re still in the very early stages of electromobility. There’s no overarching vision, not even a national plan to coordinate incentives, investment, and technological development,” they say.

Argentina in the IMF Maze

The signals are contradictory.

On one hand, import duties on electric vehicles are being reduced.

On the other, the charging network is being defunded.

“The system is so strained that if you add the demand from fast chargers, you’ll create bottlenecks. And no one is thinking about how to solve that,” the same expert warns.

Meanwhile, the draft of the new Large Investment Incentive Scheme (RIGI) prioritises extractive projects focused on exports, while neglecting the infrastructure required for electromobility.

Within this framework, Argentina risks consolidating an enclave model: extracting lithium, exporting it without industrial processing, and opening the domestic market to imported electric vehicles — without creating jobs or added value.

“The US is raising barriers to Chinese cars, while Argentina is opening up. So if you don’t protect your industry and your resource, what value does Argentine lithium really have?” Malinovsky asks, referring to the uncertain role YPF Litio will play in the national value chain.

The Need to Think

The energy outlook is also troubling. In 2024, the country reached a record demand peak of 30,700 MW.

Without investment in distributed generation, renewable energies, and storage, the simultaneous charging of thousands of electric vehicles could trigger local blackouts or tariff hikes — especially in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), where the grid is already operating at its limits.

Faced with this scenario, experts agree that innovative policies are urgently needed. Solar panels, second-life batteries, and microgrids could form part of the solution.

But without investment, regulation, and political will, these ideas are unlikely to scale.

Electromobility doesn’t grow on its own. It requires state planning, clear rules, and a long-term vision.

The new IMF agreement, by prioritising fiscal austerity and energy sector liberalisation, pushes in the opposite direction.

Rather than accelerating the transition, it stalls it. And while the rest of the world bets on cleaner mobility, Argentina once again seems to be left halfway.

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