The 15th edition of Electric Vehicle Latin America happened at the very start of October, bringing new EVs to the Latin American visitors. Inside the event, people had the opportunity to do test drives from the smallest to the most significant transportation devices that were being exposed.
With more than 40 expositors sharing a room at Transamerica Expo Center, the visitors were able to see new models of cars and EVs from companies like Renault, Toyota, JAC, and more. Companies responsible for the fueling of electric systems also exposed their products for renewable energy.
The Next Avenue went to the event and talked to some of the expositors who shared some information with us. We will discuss what came out as the best of this edition of the event.
At the JAC stand, the “world’s first electric pickup” was spotted. The iEV 330P had its front side open for visitors to analyze the interior of the motor. During a talk with the representatives of the carmaker, specs revealed were that the electric truck comes to the market with “a range of 198 miles and a battery of 67kW.”
“So far, we have four of these units in Brazil, still waiting for its homologation, so that by next year, in February, we can deliver the first pickups to the customers,” said one of the expositors. “Right now, JAC is the only name in Brazil that has several electric vehicles on the market, not only just one car.”
He refers to the models iEV40, that was also exposed for visitors, along with the iEV20. Other EVs being expected in the country are an SUV model called iEV60 available in July 2020, and an electric truck named iEV1200T. This last one will start its sales in November 2019.
Even though JAC has the lead in the South American country, the prices are not so friendly for potential customers there. The cheapest of the models, the iEV20, costs R$119,000, which is around 30,000 dollars. This might not sound expensive in the conversion to American dollars, but due to the financial crisis Brazil has been facing in the last few years, it is a lot of money to invest. The iEV40 has an autonomy of 186 miles before the need for a second charge. It costs $37,638 dollars. This is the third cheapest EV on the Brazilian market, running after the Renault ZOE.
Following the exposition, Renault was drawing attention with the already known ZOE. With some time already on the market, Renault ZOE was the cheapest EV in Brazil before the arrival of the JAC iEV20. With at least R$20,000 of difference, the car from the French automaker costs $36,900 dollars. The vehicle provides specs good enough for a city like São Paulo. Also having a range of 186 miles, the EV is powered by 41kWh battery.
“It has been out since November last year, so almost a year by now. (…) It sold almost 200 models that are 100% electric, and by April this year, we sold out the first lot of ZOEs.”
This shows that Renault also has a lot of influence inside the Portuguese-speaking country.
While some speakers shared their vision on electric mobility, The Next Avenue also visited the stands of smaller vehicles. With a very colorful display, a company called ‘Eletricz’ was showing off electric monocycles and scooters. In a talk with the founder of Eletricz, Marcio Canzian, specs and information were revealed about the more than 10 different models developed, and their impact on urban mobility, especially in such a huge city as São Paulo.
“When talking about the monocycle, for example, it has 86 miles of range, with a single charge. So, we are not even talking about short distances, to connect to some kind of public transportation, and actually a whole route” he said. “You take a car, that weights 1 ton, to go to a grocery a store, and while taking only one person, you can create a lot of pollution out of that vehicle. (….) So, I think it is a smarter alternative to use a small electric vehicle.”
When asked about where he sees more use of its vehicles, Marcio said:
“Our main customers are from São Paulo, and especially the busiest areas in the city. These areas can take you more than two hours to go through.”
Not only mentioning how fast you can go through heavy-traffic areas, but the owner of the company also pointed how practical one of these EVs can be, where your monocycle “can be stored inside a locker. You don’t even have to worry about parking it.”
Canzian pointed that a regimentation is necessary for the development of the circulation of e-scooters and more, so it is important that the government steps in to help the automakers and customers. However, at the same time they need to provide safer streets to avoid accidents, and even prioritize special lanes for this new type of transportation. “The infrastructure needs to be inviting.” Electricz represents Kingsong in Brazil.
Still on the segment of mobility through more compact EVs, a stand that also drew the attention was ‘General Wings,’ promoting a product that has been growing recently in the market, electric bicycles.
The company has been working since 2009. Showing off several models of e-bikes, the expositor Cleber gave us an interview about the company.
“The main differential from General Wings is the assistance offered all over the country. Wherever you are, the company can contact a shipping service, bring the bike to the factory in São Paulo, and it will return as if it was a brand new one.”
When asked about who the company sells the majority of its bikes to, he said:
“The general public is still not much aware of the product itself, so usually people from food delivery services, business people that want to arrive at the workplace less sweaty or do not want to get stuck in traffic.”
On the specs, Cleber shared that it can reach a maximum of 31 miles of range, with specific settings for different models. The average torque reaches around 100 Nm, and its power capacity also diversifies depending on the model, with its best being 500W and weakest 250W.
“The cost-benefit of an e-bike like this is a very good one. The return that you have investing in a vehicle like this is higher than a regular bike, for example.”
The prices of the bikes from General Wings can go from R$5,600 ($1,380 dollars) to R$39,900 ($9,834 dollars).
This was just the best of the Electric Vehicle Latin America 2019. The event will happen again in 2020, and we expect that by then a lot more will happen in the electric industry and there will be a lot more to show.