Automakers have the challenge of growing and standardizing technologies in the face of the transition from gasoline to electric vehicles in Mexico.

Given the rise in demand for electric cars, Mexico is expected to comply with the electric stations, this with the help of the Government. (Bloomberg)

The increase in demand for electric cars in Mexico will drive the need to install more than 15,700 public charging stations throughout the country by 2030, exceeding the 13,000 gas stations that exist today , warn specialists.

"According to international standards, an average of 12.5 stations is needed for each electric vehicle , if we assume that 70 percent of the infrastructure is public and that 50 percent of this is in charging stations with four to five chargers, we are thinking that by 2030, 15,700 electric stations need to be installed,” said Óscar Silva, partner, and leader of Industrial and Automotive practices at the consultancy Roland Berger México.

In the country, according to figures from the National Auto Parts Industry (INA), there are around 2,000 recharging points , which means that in the next seven years around 13,700 public charging stations will need to be installed , at a rate of 163 units per month.

“We would need a program that comes from the government to stimulate investment at the speed that is required for this type of infrastructure , the arrival of new companies that are selling electric vehicles and that there are aggressive plans on the part of the manufacturers, will require that they push all this charging infrastructure installation,” Silva said.

The Evergo company, for example, plans to deploy a robust network of electric chargers , so it installs between 400 and up to 500 residential chargers per month in Mexico. "Currently a month we are installing between 400 and 500 residential chargers , this has to do with the fact that in the last two or three years the number of models has increased," said Daniel López, commercial director of EverGo Mexico. The company plans to install around 15,000 chargers for electric cars in the next 10 years , with a first investment phase of 200 million dollars and 5,000 chargers.

Francisco González, president of the INA, commented that Mexico requires government incentives, both for the purchase of electric cars , and to promote fast charging infrastructure in the country. “There are many paths, each country in the Pacific basin has its way of supporting this, some giving the incentive to the vehicle, others closing the circle of asking the automakers to install (charging points), as in the case of BMW in the corridor from Mexico to San Luis Potosí, or from Tesla, which is already installing several chargers,” he declared.

José Zozaya, president of the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA) stressed that Mexico is ready to turn to the change of technologies with electromobility; however, he recognized that the leadership of the federal government is required to accompany the private initiative and the assembly companies to detonate greater infrastructure.

“We need a much broader infrastructure of charging stations and electromobility than we have today, but for this we need coordination, a single leadership from the federal government,” he added. Some property owners such as Fibra Uno (Funo) have installed 102 chargers from 2017 to date to meet the changes in the electromobility industry, in some of their shopping centers and buildings.

Currently, each assembler has its own electrical charging system; However, the opening of Tesla in the United States so that brands such as Ford and GM can use its superchargers , allowing customers of these brands to access the electric car giant's network, has encouraged global charger manufacturers to explore new alliances and could generate a replicable load sharing model in other regions such as Mexico.

“That is the trend, today we know that chargers are different for Tesla than for GM electric vehicles, or Chinese electric vehicles, but we would need to have an independent infrastructure for each brand and that is not something efficient and the automakers are already talking. of this topic, to homogenize in some way the issue of the chargers”, concluded Silva, the partner of Roland Berger Mexico.

'Accelerates' the sale of electric motorcycles in the country. The green, hybrid and electric motorcycle industry experiences a breakthrough in Mexico. Last year around 1.2 million motorcycles were sold in the country , of which more than 1 percent were electric, according to the Mexican Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers and Importers (AMFIM).

By the end of 2023, it is estimated that the production of electric and hybrid vehicles in Mexico will increase by 179 percent annually, reaching around 221,970 units, according to industry estimates. Laura González, director of the Mexico International Motorcycle Show (SIMM), highlighted that this growth in the green motorcycle industry not only has a positive impact on the environment , but also generates new economic opportunities for the country.