Mexico's Electrifying Quest: The Battle for Affordable Electric Cars

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum pledges a homegrown, affordable electric car, challenging Tesla and Chinese imports. Despite issues like lithium shortages and high power rates, Sheinbaum aims to unite Mexican companies and researchers. However, competition from cheap Chinese models and infrastructure challenges pose significant hurdles.

Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced an ambitious plan on Friday to develop a cost-effective, Mexican-made electric vehicle to compete with imports from China and Tesla, which she sees as too costly for most Mexicans. Tesla's cheapest offering, the Model 3, comes with a price tag of approximately USD 30,000.

Sheinbaum's vision is to harness the innovation of Mexican companies and researchers in assembling a 'compact, cheap electric car' entirely made within Mexico, citing Chinese and Indian electric vehicles as current market influencers. Although electric scooters from China are popular, Sheinbaum dismissed them as less safe.

However, the endeavor encounters challenges: Mexico lacks domestic lithium production, precise mining techniques, and cost-effective electricity supply, compounded by underdeveloped power infrastructure. The low-cost Chinese electric cars, offered at roughly USD 1,000, set a competitive benchmark difficult for local manufacturers to meet.

(With inputs from agencies.)