Production in Mexico

Mexico is the seventh largest automobile manufacturer in the world. Among the major car manufacturers, however, only Ford has plans to build electric vehicles in Mexico. As became public in December 2017, the company plans to start manufacturing a small SUV at its plant in the Estado de Mexico in 2020. The model was originally designed for production at the Ford Flat Rock plant in Michigan. In the future, however, the development and production of autonomous vehicles is to be pushed ahead there, which is why the electric model will move to Mexico. In addition to the conventional versions of the Q5, Audi is also planning to assemble a hybrid version in Mexico. The plant, which was opened in Puebla State in 2016, is currently preparing for this step. The factory has an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles.

Although the Mexican automotive industry is dominated by foreign companies, there are some domestic approaches to electromobility. Motores Limpios launched the two-seater Zacua in mid-2017. Weighing 380 kilograms, the vehicle has a range of 195 kilometers and a maximum speed of 95 km/h. Moldex, a subsidiary of the bakery giant Bimbo, announced that it was developing an electrically powered taxi model together with the Mexican company Giant Motors. It is to be launched in 2018.

Vehiculos Electricos Corporativos (VEC), another Mexican company, is developing electrically powered commercial vehicles. Together with the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM), the company presented the prototype of a transport vehicle at the beginning of 2017. Its battery only needs 60 minutes to be charged and offers a range of 100 kilometers. The sales price of approx. € 30,000 is low compared to other commercial e-vehicles. There is no information about the exact date for its market launch.

Infrastructure in Mexico

In Mexico, sales of electric and hybrid cars are only slowly gaining momentum. The charging infrastructure is relatively well developed, but strongly concentrated in the capital region. Mexico's largest network of charging stations (Chargenow) offered a total of 434 stations in February 2018. Most of the stations are located on plots of land belonging to hotels, shopping centers and individual shops. Chargenow is a cooperation between Nissan, BMW and the state-owned power company CFE, which is currently installing 30 stations. The charging technology of the Chargenow network comes from Schneider Electric and General Electric. Most loading units are open to the public and can be used free of charge.

Tesla, the US carmaker, operates the second largest network of charging stations in Mexico. The company offers around 410 charging stations nationwide, which are also mainly located at hotels and shopping centers. To what extent the Mexican charging infrastructure will expand is still uncertain. "We expect the charging network to be expanded in line with demand," says Guillermo Rosales. According to Rosales, however, this means that more battery-powered vehicles will have to be sold first, which in turn depends on whether manufacturers can reduce their prices.

This article was first published by Next Mobility

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