The Mexican foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, drove an electric vehicle of Bolivian origin this Friday through the streets of La Paz to announce that it is scheduled to be manufactured on a “scale” in Mexico by 2023, a project that also includes the manufacture of lithium batteries taking the Bolivian experience.
Ebrard drove the Quantum E3 electric model through the streets of La Paz and highlighted some aspects of the design, a car with two shades of white and a black roof that had Mexican and Bolivian allusions, in addition to the suspension and internal space.
The foreign minister spoke of the opportunities that the Mexican market, “number 6 in the world in automotive exports”, can offer the Bolivian firm considering that, from this, this small urban performance car can be seen on display in ” many cities” in North America and around the world.
The Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations pointed out that the electric vehicle sector is going to have “exponential” growth, since Mexican regulations establish that by 2030 a large part of its vehicle fleet must be electric.
Bolivian vehicle Quantum, electric. Available in 2023 in Mexico thanks to the Quantum Alliance and the Mexican company Industrial Power. It will be the cheapest electric vehicle in our country. Congratulations!! pic.twitter.com/CFsVVBxpdV
– Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) August 5, 2022
It is expected that this vehicle will begin to be manufactured in Mexico from next year thanks to the partnership between the Bolivian Quantum Motors and the Mexican Industrial Power.
In statements to Efe, the general manager of Quantum Motors, José Carlos Márquez, considered highly positive the incursion into the Mexican market due to the number of available suppliers and the agreements that country has in the area.
Márquez pointed out that the Bolivian company, unlike large companies, targets “a very different segment” such as city cars that provide transportation efficiency in places with narrow streets or high vehicle congestion.
The Mexican firm Industrial Power distinguishes itself from the Bolivian partner in having the “complete range” of larger electric vehicles for private and commercial use, such as buses and product delivery trucks, Márquez said.
The E3 model, with a capacity for 3 people, has 3,000 W of power, a maximum acceleration of 60 kilometers per hour and a driving range of up to 100 kilometers, according to the data sheet.
On their website they are sold at a price from 6 thousand dollars.
LITHIUM BATTERIES
The Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico also highlighted that the projection between both companies is, in addition to the manufacture of electric vehicles, to work on “industrial autonomy in lithium batteries”.
Precisely one of the main objectives of the visit of the Mexican foreign minister to the Andean country is the exchange of information on the exploitation of lithium between the state companies of Bolivia and Mexico.
In a joint statement Thursday with Bolivian Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta, Ebrad said that the purpose is for lithium not to be sold as a raw material, but for both countries to participate in “the processing and manufacturing of batteries.”
The Mexican Foreign Minister arrived in Bolivia the day before and met with President Luis Arce and former President Evo Morales, who once again thanked him and his country for having saved his life in 2019, when he resigned from the Presidency denouncing being a victim of a “coup d’état” amid suspicions of fraud in the elections.
“The brotherly people of Mexico and their worthy president @lopezobrador_ will always have our affection and recognition for having defended Bolivian democracy and for having saved our lives,” Morales wrote alongside a photo of the meeting at the Mexican Embassy in La Peace.
Ebrard will participate this Saturday in the official act for the 197th anniversary of Bolivia in Sucre, the constitutional capital, and then will travel to Colombia for the investiture of Gustavo Petro as the new president of that country.
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