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This is encouraging. We need more of these EV retro-fit kits in developing countries, where buying EVs is prohibitively expensive. Obviously, we need a way of s
by aanet 2y ago
This is encouraging. We need more of these EV retro-fit kits in developing countries, where buying EVs is prohibitively expensive. Obviously, we need a way of safety certifying the kits and the end product as well.
Uruguay is among the most developed countries [1] in South America (2024 nominal GDP per capita: ~$23K; Chile ~$16.5K) with human development index of 0.83 (very high).
Yet, the list price of new vehicles is easily 1.5x - 2x that in the US, and EVs are quite out of reach for most residents. (ex: Honda Civic HEV is listed for USD 55K [2])
By offering modestly priced EV retrofit kits, a market need is clearly being met.
- [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Uruguay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Uruguay
- [2] https://www.hondauruguay.com/civic-e-hev.html https://www.hondauruguay.com/civic-e-hev.html
- floxy 2y ago> Yet, the list price of new vehicles is easily 1.5x - 2x that in the US I'm assuming this is because of taxes or import tariffs, or something similarly self-imposed?
- Jtsummers 2y agoYes. Substantial taxes on imports for vehicles from outside Mercosur, also taxes based on engine size and a few other parameters.
- beaglesss 2y agoGenius. Incentivize economic production in industries where you have less comparative advantage. A common story of contribution to poverty in SA, although to be fair Uruguay is better than most others on the continent.
- throw_pm23 2y agoHow do you build that comparative advantage though? You think Japan or South Korea didn't have protectionist policies until they figured out how to produce such things competitively?
- Joker_vD 2y agoPrecisely. The theory of comparative advantage literally says "you can't finance e.g. industrialization by the market means, it's strictly and highly unprofitable, no entrepreneur in their right mind would (or even could) do this", yet somehow people routinely tout it as a decisive argument for laissez-faire. And Japan's history of the state support for its automotive industry is quite something.
- dietr1ch 2y agoThis got to be negligible next to corruption and the cost of being small countries (more prone to market failures, small import/export traffic, brain drain).
- spelufo 2y agoI'm Uruguayan and this drives me crazy. Specially for products that are also tools for industries where we can and do compete. Buying a computer in Uruguay costs about twice as much as in the US. If this is all self imposed by tariffs, which as far as I know it is, what industry are the tariffs really defending? Certainly not Uruguayan electronics manufacturers, there aren't any. The only people that I imagine benefit are customs officers and companies that import stuff to sell in Uruguay. There isn't any new capability to build things that the country gets in return. We learn from exporting talent instead. And if we want to compete we need to do it globally. Our market is too small, the population is ~3M.
- floxy 2y ago>The only people that I imagine benefit are customs officers and companies that import stuff to sell in Uruguay. How do high tariffs help importing companies? Wouldn't they be able to sell more (and thus import more) if the end prices to the consumer were lower?
- spelufo 2y agoFair point, I might be mistaken. But I think there are lots of small resellers that wouldn't exist if buying online from abroad was as seamless and risk free as buying online locally through mercado libre. The real problem is the requirement of contacting a customs officer to import anything above 200usd, and the risk of having the product stopped by customs. The resellers value is in saving you that bureaucracy by doing it in bulk. And in practice, because of the small market, it greatly reduces the variety of products on offer.
- seydor 2y agowe need this in all countries. In fact it's curious that this is not the first priority
- lukan 2y agoCar companies rather sell new cars, than conversion kits and they do have quite a lobby.
- chii 2y agoIt's the same as mobile phones. Most phones have unreplacible batteries, because it's commercially better for their bottom line. It's not like phones improve sufficiently to justify buying a new one, but the battery lose charge significantly over time. A car has similar issues. There are only small parts of the car that wears out, and by replacing those parts, the car can be made to function for significantly longer. But modern cars are so complex and intertwined, that it's difficult to just replace worn parts (not to mention difficult to even find those parts available). Hopefully the conversion to EV cars will resolve some of these problems, but i dont have high hopes. It's not like EV manufacturers are going out of their way to make the car's batteries replacible.
- lukan 2y ago"It's not like EV manufacturers are going out of their way to make the car's batteries replacible" But since electric cars are mechanically a bit simpler, there are opportunities for small companies willing to disrupt the market or at least find a niche for reliable and easy to fix cars.
- chii 2y ago> willing to disrupt the market i doubt it, because the whole platform is controlled by the EV manufacturer, and they can easily prevent it (via software for example). Think inkjet printers. If EV batteries are to be made replacible, it needs to be mandated by law. And to be honest, i think a car's battery should be replacible (and be easy/convenient to do so) - imagine instead of charging your car, you will drive up to a "gas" station and just replace the current flat batteries with full ones in a few minutes. Think gas stove tanks.
- pelasaco 2y agoThe issue for the cars owners is that it become harder to sell the car later, exactly because of this transformation. So you basically transform it and drive until it dies (which is not bad from my POV), but that is something that make people think twice before doing it.
- fnord77 2y ago> We need more of these EV retro-fit kits in developing countries why? fossil fuels will remain economical for at least 100 more years.
- psd1 2y agoWhat do you mean by "economical"? EV already beats ICE in some dimensions of economy.
- fnord77 2y ago10 year TCO for a barebones Prius is lower than TCO for an EV, when counting things like battery replacement and charger installation.
- Dylan16807 2y agoMost cars can't dream of being anywhere near as efficient as a Prius. But yes if you can get your gasoline spending under $1000/year then you can probably match or beat electric. Throwing US averages at a calculator says an equivalently priced Leaf would have $200 less in fuel costs per year compared to the Prius getting 57 mpg. At that point it's up to the random maintenance costs.