Mexico is one of the countries with the highest level of investment in electric mobility in Latin America and seek to expand the number of users.
The establishment of companies such as Tesla and the expansion of operations by companies like BMW or Audi can be attributed to its strategic location with the United States and the advanced state of its automotive industry.
We are talking about the fourth-largest automobile producer and the seventh-largest exporter, with around 90% of its foreign sales directed towards the northern border.
Regarding domestic consumption, there are still limitations to surpass a 5% penetration of electric technology, although both the government and the industry already have plans in place to accelerate the transition.
In this context, a Frost & Sullivan study on electric mobility in Mexico yielded results regarding the perception of users of zero and low-emission vehicles.
As a methodology, a survey tool was adopted, which reflects that 55.6% of the surveyed users are male, while 44.4% are female.
In terms of age groups, the most significant range is between 46 and 55 years old, followed by the group between 36 and 45 years old.
Regarding users’ motivations, the report indicates: “Among those who have purchased a plug-in vehicle, 87.5% highlight environmental protection or pollution reduction as the primary motivation for the purchase.”
Fuel savings are also a prevalent reason.
On the other hand, residents of single-family houses admit to having residential charging, although this is not a feature of buildings.
On average, 71.3% of vehicle charging takes place at home, while only 28.7% is done in public places.
Barriers for users: the charging network at the forefront
While one of the main barriers to the democratization of these vehicles is often placed on their price, users of electric cars do not share the same opinion.
“The study states that 81.5% of electric car drivers agree or strongly agree with the statement that road trips are not feasible in electric cars.”
It’s worth mentioning that while Mexico has the most robust charging network in the region, the private sector emphasizes the need to increase the number of charging points.
In this regard, it estimates around 1,336 public or semi-public charging stations, with a total of 3,206 connectors.
This means an average of 2.4 connectors per station.
Most of these stations have alternating current connectors, which means semi-fast charging, taking an average of four to five hours for an electric vehicle to reach a full charge.
This situation positions the charging network as the primary inconvenience for users, followed by the cost.
The indicated priority may align with the analysis conducted by the World Bank, which points out that the most effective incentive for the development of electric mobility is not tax exemptions or monetary benefits but the development of the charging infrastructure.
According to the organization, such policies could be up to six times more effective than allocating public funds to subsidize electric cars.
Read more: 645,000 Electric Vehicles in Mexico by 2030: The Private Sector’s Electromobility Plan
This is because tax exemptions would benefit a population with sufficient purchasing power to acquire an electric car, which would be regressive.
Furthermore, more than 90% of those surveyed by Frost & Sullivan stated that they would purchase an electric car if it were priced the same as a combustion engine vehicle.
Regarding the decision to purchase this technology, 95.7% of the owners would buy a vehicle of this kind again.
Additionally, nine out of 27 electric car users (33.3%) highlight that they acquired these vehicles because they are the latest in technology.
This percentage is much lower in the case of hybrid technology (7%).
28% of the owners are considering buying an electric vehicle in the near future, primarily to reduce the use of fossil fuels (or non-renewable energy sources) and thereby make a more significant contribution to pollution reduction.
Read more news about electromobility in Latin America at Portal Movilidad.
