Mexico City — The development of the electric vehicle industry in Mexico is expected to take place hand in hand with the nearshoring of automotive supply chains, but faces the challenges of energy supply and regulation, according to Francisco Cabeza, president of the newly created Mexican Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles (AMIVE).
The president of the first organization in Mexico dedicated to the promotion of electric vehicles and sustainable mobility said in an interview with Bloomberg Línea that the electric vehicle sector needs a legal framework with new rules and coordination among all the actors involved.
Today in Mexico, 98% of vehicles are gasoline-powered and only 2% electric, which makes it necessary to accelerate the energy transition before 2030, which is when automotive companies will stop manufacturing internal combustion vehicles.
“We know that all automotive brands have already said that they will stop manufacturing internal combustion vehicles from 2030 to 2050, and we need to lay the groundwork now for public policies, electric infrastructure, norms and connector standards for electric vehicles.”
Francisco Cabeza, president of AMIVE
The goal is for Mexico to remain at the top of both vehicle manufacturing and the adoption of electric vehicles worldwide. Mexico has one of the 10 largest vehicle fleets worldwide, and AMIVE believes that the country should not keep the backlog of combustion vehicles because this will have a negative impact.
But there are challenges, with energy supply and the need for regulation some of the main barriers to overcome.
Cabeza explained that if you review the development program of the National Electric System 2023-2037, what you will find is that it talks about Mexico having electric capacity, the problem is that it does not mention how much of that capacity will be available for electric vehicles.
“What are we doing to do to ensure that this energy comes from renewable sources? There are many challenges, we have to work on identifying where we are going to have that energy demand and then see that energy from less polluting sources is increasingly consumed.”
Francisco Cabeza, president of AMIVE
Regarding regulation, he stated that there are proposed rules submitted to Congress in 2018 have not been reviewed or approved.
“We will have to continue to ask the corresponding institutions for regulations to facilitate this transition in an orderly manner that will allow us to have the largest number of electric vehicles circulating in the country.”
Francisco Cabeza, president of AMIVE
Mexico’s automotive market is one of the largest in Latin America, with an annual production of around 3.5 million vehicles, yet the electric vehicle market in Mexico is still in its infancy, with only around 20,000 electric vehicles sold in the country to date.
Asked how he would describe this moment of opportunity in which electric vehicle growth goes hand in hand with the relocation of companies, he said that it is “like the gold rush in the old west”, that is, there are many opportunities ahead, but the challenge is for Mexico not to let them pass by.
“There is $119 billion earmarked for electric mobility in the United States, and we should not waste this opportunity What do we need? We have to make many rules, we have to coordinate and work in unity. We have to unite all the monologues that exist in the country to have a common dialogue.”
Francisco Cabeza, president of AMIVE
Francisco Cabeza took on the role of president of AMIVE during the Latam Mobility México 2023 forum, held on October 10 and 11 in Mexico City.