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Published Wednesday, March 10, 2021
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
In two years, since 2018, the electric car initiative has saved $87,000 in fuel and lubricants, according to the Institute of Electricity, ICE.
The purchase of electric cars was made to replace fuel motor cars used by employees of the institute that had reached the end of their service.
The institute purchased 100 electric cars, financed by a $3.5 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, to reduce pollution from the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The 100 Hyundai sedan IONIQ EV 2018 model cars are characterized by their lack of a muffler, almost silent-like starters and sidestep of polluting substances such as oils or lubricants.
In total there has been a hindrance of 200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to the 1,100,000 kilometer road that has been covered with electric cars.
"This immediately contributes to improving air quality and reducing noise pollution on the country's highways," the institute said in its statement.
"We hope that more institutions and companies will take the step and invest in vehicles that do not pollute and generate significant savings," Roberto Quirós, coordinator of the Institute's Electro-Mobility Program said.
As part of the government's National Decarbonization Plan program, ICE has installed a network with 63 Electric Vehicles stations, EVs, located around the city and in rural areas.
In Dec. 2020, the Institute, inaugurated in Siquirres Canton, Limón Province, the
first of the new 28 EVs in the country.
The rest of the EVs are located in the cantons of:
• Garabito, Palmar Norte, Ciudad Neilly, Uvita and Dominical in Puntarenas Province.
• Limón downtown and Guápiles in Limón Province.
• Turrialba and Caballo Blanco in Cartago Province.
• Pérez Zeledón in San José Province.
• Naranjo and San Ramón in Alajuela Province.
• La Cruz, Sámara, Las Juntas and Liberia in Guanacaste Province.
These
new chargers have a maximum capacity of 100 kilowatts. They allow
plug-in vehicles with devices type CCS1, CHAdeMO or GB / T, which are
the standards used in American, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and European
electrical vehicles.
These EVs were built exclusively for the
institute network to offer the options most used in Costa Rica, such as
BMW, BYD, Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Volkswagen in the same cargo
area and Xpeng.
The charging station installations were
financed with a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.
According
to the Institute, with the implementation of these 28 EVs, the country consolidates itself as a regional leader in
electric mobility and advances to achieve the objectives of the
government's National Decarbonization Plan.
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