'Conversion EVs,' which transform gasoline-powered cars into EVs at bargain prices, are gaining momentum
by Andrés BO for Rest of World
There must be many people who are interested in EVs but cannot afford luxury cars like Tesla's new cars. As a solution to meet such demand, a service that converts gasoline-powered cars into EVs is being launched in Latin America. Foreign media outlet Rest of World reports that it is gaining popularity.
How to turn gas cars into electric vehicles in Latin America - Rest of World
In 2010, José Mujica became the 40th president of Uruguay, and to promote his vision of making Uruguay an environmentally friendly country, he had a gasoline-powered car modified by the local modification company, Organización Autolibre. He appeared at the inauguration ceremony in a small truck that had been converted into an EV.
Mujica's bright blue car garnered widespread media coverage, sparking interest in the technology among EV enthusiasts in Uruguay and abroad who wanted to make EVs affordable. Ta.
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Since then, Autolibre has traveled to 14 Latin American countries and held online courses to provide local technicians with its know-how in EV conversion, converting thousands of conventional cars into EVs. He said he has been helping to make this a reality.
'Autolibre system distributors are helping to train the technicians who will create the ecosystem needed to develop this industry locally,' said Gabriel Gonzalez Barrios, founder and CEO of the Autolibre Organization. They continue to ask us for help.'
Gonzalez-Barrios was inspired to start his own conversion company by Al Gore's 2006 climate change documentary ' An Inconvenient Truth .'
At the time, Gonzalez Barrios was a distributor of products for gasoline-powered vehicles. He started by converting his company cars from gasoline to zero-emission EVs. He was pleased with how successful the conversion was and how inexpensive it was. Gonzalez Barrios felt this way and began to seriously consider the conversion EV business.
Initially, Gonzalez Barrios used an American-made EV kit, but due to the increased costs, he is now partnering with Shukai Empower Electric, a Chinese power systems company, at the time of writing.
The Latin American Association for Sustainable Mobility reported in 2020 that at least 145 modified vehicles were officially registered. The Latin American Modification Association, which González Barrios co-founded, also has a website for EV conversion kits. It has over 30 member businesses, including dealers and workshops specializing in modifications.
Conversion EVs are by no means a new technology, and countries such as
Gonzalez Barrios said the biggest benefit of conversion is the low price. Most new EVs sold in Latin America are priced out of reach for most people, with popular models like the The Renault Kwid EV model costs about $18,100 (about 2.6 million yen). In comparison, it costs about $6,000 (about 2.6 million yen) to convert an existing gasoline or diesel car into an EV using the Auto Libre system. It costs only about one-third of the original cost (850,000 yen).
But conversions also come with risks. Adolfo Rojas, president of the Peruvian Association of Entrepreneurs Promoting Electric Vehicles, said many of the conversion kits available on China's online marketplace Alibaba and Peru's MercadoLibre do not meet minimum safety and regulatory standards. Even the quality is not guaranteed.'
The legal treatment of modified cars varies widely across South America, and Chile passed a bill in 2021 that will completely ban the modification of used passenger cars. Rodrigo Salcedo, president of the Chilean Electric Vehicle Association, told Rest of World: 'Modifications have been carried out before but maintaining the safety level of the cars has been ignored,' he said.
In Colombia, where there are no legal restrictions on modified cars, there are also calls for stricter regulations. Andres Garcia, who works at a car dealership in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has a company that specializes in certified technology. The group has decided to only sell modification kits to authorized users, and is holding repeated meetings with authorities and specialist organizations to lobby for the enactment of regulatory laws.
Jairo Noboa, who worked for Garcia's company converting a 1981 BMW into an electric car, said converting cars like his makes sense because parts are expensive and hard to come by for cars as old as his. Masu.
Noboa told Rest of World, 'Most of the 10,000-plus EVs on the roads in Colombia are new, but converted EV owners aren't envious of their cars, except for luxury cars like Teslas. ” he said.
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