Chile registers electromobility market growth despite high costs

Electromobility keeps growing in Chile as charging infrastructure for private vehicles is becoming more available despite cost barriers, which authorities are trying to remedy via incentives. 

Enel electromobility unit Enel X Way has installed 700 charging stations across the country so far and plans to revise upwards its long-term goals in this sector because the original 1,200 station target is “obsolete” due to growing demand, the firm’s Latin America head, Jean Paul Zalaquett, told BNamericas during the inauguration event of a charging point in Santiago’s Las Condes district.

A total of 7,268 low- or zero-emission, light or medium-sized vehicles were sold in Chile during the first half, up 106% year-on-year. Sales of fully electric vehicles reached 1,735 units, an increase of 126%, according to local automotive association Anac.

But cost represents one of the main barriers, Iván Morán, the energy ministry's regional energy secretary, told BNamericas at the event. 

As an incentive, EVs are exempt from paying for license plates, and Morán said this benefit will remain in place in the long term. 

“I do believe that policies that ease electromobility integration must be boosted,” he said, highlighting that the ministry’s energy sustainability office is also working with the banking sector to offer facilities for potential buyers.

However, Morán added that technological advances are helping to lower prices, though the government should also promote the development of charging infrastructure.

Under its electromobility plan, Chile aims to phase out light, public transport and mining vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2035.