Overcoming the challenges of Green Mobility in Brazil

Accomplishing environmentally sustainable mobility through solutions such as electric vehicle (EV) adoption is the dream of many fleet and mobility managers in Brazil, but there are still challenges such as the high-ticket price of EVs and the lack of charging infrastructure, according to local fleet and mobility experts.  

As emitting less pollution saves lives, the dream for practically everyone in fleet today is to reduce CO2 emissions, according to Eduardo Canicoba (pictured left) who is AVP Brazil for telematics and IoT multinational Geotab.

However, “we should work on reducing emissions by 80% or more, and not only by 20-30%. Of course, we need to overcome the challenges of high EV prices and lacks in charging infrastructure,” says Mr. Canicoba.

Companies need to firmly advocate EV mobility in Brazil, something that calls for a collective effort as it cannot be done by one company alone, according to Thiago Hipolito (pictured right) who is Director of DriverLAB Innovation for mobility platform 99.

Besides reducing the ticket price of EV models and deploying more charging infrastructure, what we need is well organized recharging management, says Mr. Hipolito, explaining that drivers need to know when, where, and how charging will take place.

“By 2025, we expect to have 10,000 EVs and 10,000 recharging points in the 99 platform”, the executive says.

Besides reducing the cost of EVs, we need to capture technology, and this can be more easily done with government support. Remember that time is money, so we need to address EV recharge downtime, according to Carine Coda Ludvic (pictured left) who is Head of Growth in Brazil for mobile app-based mobility company Rappi.

“We all have dreams, but they need to be turned into real targets. For us, our goal is to optimize operations and implement sustainable solutions such as EV and bike deployment. In cities with better infrastructure such as Rio de Janeiro, 60% of our orders are delivered with bikes,” says Ms. Ludvic.

Like everyone is saying, prices are high but that is because there is a lack of EV models available. This not only has to do with passenger cars, but also for cargo vehicles, according to Fernando Matias (pictured right) who is president of Latin America delivery platform Liftit.

“Today, large companies are investing in sustainability while smaller players are lacking for the most part. Remember that expanding vertically (within the company) can create problems and finally, it is not only about environmental impacts, but also about societal impacts,” says Mr. Matias.

Although many companies want to set targets on reducing carbon emissions, practically nobody wants to pay the price, according to Roberta Ferreira (pictured left) who is Head of Innovation and Production in Brazil for ALD Automotive. 

“Remember to brunt the high cost of vehicles yourself and don’t penalize users. Focus on making things easier. Customers cannot be waiting an hour to recharge,” Ms. Ferreira says.

Educating people is fundamental and remember that having an intelligent and connected car is a dream for many, according to Arval Brazil Marketing Manager Julio Meneghini (pictured right) who also stated that the vehicle leasing, and fleet management company has a goal to reach 700,000 EVs worldwide by 2025. 

“Our goal is to reduce our emissions by 35% within five years (from 2020 to 2025). Once this is reached, we will be working on the next target,” says Mr. Meneghini.

These experts spoke during a panel discussion which took place at mobility conference Latam Mobility & Net Zero Brasil in Sao Paulo. It was moderated by Silvia Barcik (pictured left) who is Director of local EV association ABVE and head of vec Itaú, the electric car sharing division of Brazililian bank Itaú. “Like everyone said, let’s turn our dreams into reality by looking for concrete solutions in sustainability, not only for companies, but also for individual citizens,” Ms. Barcik said.

For more expert opinion on what is taking place in Latin America fleet and mobility, attend the upcoming Fleet LatAm Expert meeting on 20 April.