Mexico unable to move on EV charging stations despite manufacturer requests

Mexico’s state-owned power utility CFE has received several requests from electric vehicle (EV) players such as US firm Tesla to install charging-station hubs in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. 

However, energy regulator CRE has not issued the guidelines and prices for charging services yet, preventing it from planning a strategy or even shaking hands on new deals, CFE officials said at a press conference on Thursday. 

“We have had several requests, one of them is from Tesla … but as long as the rate regulation is not issued, its contractual situation will not be resolved,” said the CEO of CFE subsidiary SSB, José Martín Mendoza Hernández. 

The core of the problem is that CFE is currently the only service provider that can charge for electricity in Mexico, but as it does not have a metric for collecting payment for EV charging, it cannot yet partner with private sector companies. 

“This is not under our control. It is the regulatory entity, the CRE, that will be issuing the guidelines. No one can resell energy at present,” CFE distribution coordinator José Antonio Vega García said.

Mendoza added that EV owners can request a permit to install an in-home charging station without seeing an alarming increase in their bills, but neither gas stations nor other establishments are allowed to resell such services. 

Mexico is experiencing a boom in vehicle production, which is slowly turning to EVs as global automakers transition to electromobility, but the federal government has not publicly announced a strategy to deploy EV charging infrastructure. 

The only state where this infrastructure is moving forward is Puebla, where the local energy agency has rolled out a public-private partnership plan to become the country’s first electromobility hub by installing almost 100 new EV charging points.