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The transportation industry is a major contributor to pollution in Central America, accounting for at least half of the region’s harmful CO2 emissions, but what can we do about it?
“In order to reduce Central America’s dependence on oil and the internal combustion engine (ICE), electric vehicles (EV) must be drastically introduced in the region,” the president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mosi, said recently what with Global Fleet in Honduras before a business trip to Washington.
To achieve the bank’s goal of zero emissions by 2030, which includes having only hybrids or all-electric vehicles, CABEI (or BCIE in Spanish) has committed to providing US$1 billion in annual funding over the coming years to help of its member countries to achieve their development goals.
Search for US companies
Although the bank does business with companies from different countries, “it has a very good dialogue with the United States at the moment, even talking to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the US presidential climate envoy John Kerry and signing a memorandum of understanding with them,” said Mr. Mossi, emphasizing that the bank has an AA rating from Standard & Poor’s, the best in the region.
The bank wants to promote the transition to more sustainable and climate-friendly mobility solutions in Central America in partnership with American companies. As such, CABEI is hosting the 2022 Business Forum “Introducing Electric Mobility in Central America”. It will be held in Washington on November 21, 2022.
According to the bank’s executive director, Central America is very agricultural and many customers want producers to be more sustainable or say “greener”. Besides taxi unions and public buses, some of the EVs in high demand are delivery trucks for refrigerated fleets that transport meat and dairy products, as well as standard motorcycles for small farmers.
Pickup trucks like this 2022 Toyota Tacoma (Hilux) have been very popular in Central America in recent years (Copyright: Toyota)
On the farmer bikes, Mr Mossi said the bank was offering eight-year financing with a 1.9% fixed APR and a two-year grace period. The bank guarantees up to 75% of the loan amount for farmers.
“To give an example, I just bought a hybrid vehicle and we are working towards all our bank employees having either a hybrid or an all-electric vehicle, Mr Mosi said.
In addition to offering CABEI’s financial products and services to the private sector in member countries, the forum will share the latest insights, trends and perspectives of the electric mobility industry and give manufacturers and suppliers a chance to showcase their products and technologies.
The objectives of the bank are:
• informing and researching relevant trends and opportunities for sustainable electric mobility, charging technologies, intelligent and autonomous transport systems, among others.
• brings together US and regional stakeholders from the electric mobility sector to drive business development opportunities.
• promote foreign exchange and attract investment by strengthening trade relations between the United States and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean.
Today we have requests for electrified buses, delivery trucks, taxis, cars and motorcycles, but the industry has yet to deliver these models to us. We have the means to finance the transition and plan to join forces with US automakers and suppliers to make that happen, Mr Mosi says.
Approximately 15 Central American vehicle distributors from countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are expected to travel to Washington, D.C., trying to attract EV manufacturers for personal vehicles, public transportation and corporate fleets, as and charging infrastructure companies.
Among the US companies the bank wants to do business with or is already negotiating with are: Tesla, Rivian, Ford, Lordstown Motors, Lucid Motors, Fisker, Canoo Via Motors, XOS, Bollinger, Proterra, Gillig, Blink, ChargePoint, ClipperCreek , Leviton, SemaConnect, Arcimoto and many more.
For more information on fleet strategies in Latin America, download your free copy of Global Fleet’s latest e-book on the subject, Successful Fleet Strategies for Latamia.
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