Over the past five years, Latin America has made progress in sustainable mobility, with Chile being the country with the most actions in this area; however, some issues remain, such as the regulatory framework and carrying out profitable projects and infrastructure , according to industry specialists.
Lala Céspedes, CEO & Co-founder of Singular City , said that while the model of fleet electrification , the use of clean energy, and other issues that contribute to sustainable mobility are evolving within the region, in Argentina, for example, despite the openness of the market, financing, and public policies, a regulatory framework that provides solidity to the projects is still required .
“To be competitive regionally, we need to plan for that next step, to plan for that solidity for companies that are going to invest and become a benchmark, to have an initial capital expenditure within a model structure. We are in a growth process, that’s from Argentina, but we do see that regionally it is increasingly necessary to define a regulatory framework with stakeholders from the entire value chain,” he explained in the webinar LATAM: Roadmap 2026 for Mobility and Energy .
He also pointed out the need to identify profitable projects, plan them and implement them, because in Latin America there are several pilot tests, “but they are not clearly aligned as a region, as micro-regions.”
He indicated that Chile is leading the way in public policy , with a long-term perspective, to implement systems, while Colombia has strengthened the contractual system, Brazil has made progress with electric or hybrid vehicles, but a more macro “view” like that of Europe is required and “not to be like little lights, each one exploring and being regional laboratories.”
Meanwhile, Alex Ascón, senior consultant at Urban Wave , mentioned that the technology used in these types of units is already validated, and that vehicle prices are now more accessible than they were five years ago due to the significant presence of Chinese brands in Latin America.
“We see that the biggest gap that would accelerate progress in Peru is the charging infrastructure , which continues to be one of the areas where investment is said to be very high compared to other technologies. The vehicle itself is no longer the main obstacle; Chinese brands are the ones that have managed to moderate prices,” he stated.
He stressed that having an infrastructure plan like Chile’s would help to boost this sector in the rest of the countries in the region.
For her part, Pamela Peña, BD Manager Smart Mobility at Hiberus, stated that what is “moving the needle” this year is the direct subsidy , but also legal certainty and standardization in the region.
He said that countries like Chile have worked on interoperability, allowing any user to use the charging infrastructure across the network, becoming a facilitator and “eliminating the fear of autonomy”; in addition, there is significant private investment.
“We have a large fleet, certainly not comparable to Brazil’s, which is immense, or Mexico’s, but it’s not a small fleet, and we also have a fairly limited fleet turnover; companies don’t usually keep their fleets for more than two to four years at most, and that gives a different perspective to all the variables we have to consider. This democratization of sustainable mobility allows SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to also renew their fleets, which is a vital point for logistics. Another interesting point is the financing options available for buses, especially in cities like Bogotá and Mexico City,” he stated.
In that sense, he anticipated that by 2026 the market for light electric vehicles in Chile and the region is expected to reach a historic milestone of penetration due to regulations that the countries have in common .
Meanwhile, Israel Galván, senior business developer at Autocab , explained that in Mexico there are tax benefits, such as exemption from tax payments, verifications, and the adoption of the natural gas conversion option.
“In some ways we are making progress, and being a country with a lot of technology, we are learning from the Chilean and Brazilian models. The government has also been promoting the electrification of vehicles. We are moving forward,” he emphasized.
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