Uruguay Sees Value in Switching to Electric Vehicles

In many parts of the world, reliance on fossil-fueled buses and taxis for transportation is the norm.  In Uruguay, this is no different.  However, for the past several months, the city of Montevideo has been testing the electric powered BYD zero emissions, pure electric Rapid Transit eBus (K9) and BYD e6 5 passenger pure-electric taxi.  Results of the testing were recently released and provide concrete evidence that electric vehicles provide long term economic and environmental value.

The bus was tested for 1,279 kilometers (800 miles) across four urban routes at different times and with different speeds.  The average range of the bus was 252 kilometers (157 miles) per night time charge.  The average energy consumption was 1.26 kWh/km for the 324 kWh battery pack.

According to Roberto Kreimerman, Minister of Transportation, “electric vehicles reduce environmental pollution, city noise pollution and national fossil-fuel dependence. Considering that the transportation sector represents over 30% of the total energy consumed in the country, it is very important to domesticate this fuel spend.”

The study also showed that the total cost of ownership of an electric bus was 60% less than a standard diesel bus.  For the electric taxis, the lifetime total cost of ownership was estimated to be 50% less than traditional gasoline taxis.

Because Uruguay imports a vast majority of their fossil fuels, “the use of electric vehicles increases national energy independence and security considering that 90% of the electricity ….could be purchased from renewable sources”, according to Mr. Mendez, National Director of Energy.