There is a new sight to be seen on the roads of Havana: a growing number of electric vehicles zooming about amid the vintage American automobiles that are so characteristic of the Cuban capital.
Smaller, more affordable, plug-in options are becoming more popular in Cuba, despite the fact that the country’s electrical supply isn’t always reliable due to US restrictions and fuel shortages.
“After fighting for it for half a century, I don’t even want to smell it anymore!” a taxi driver named Sixto Gonzalez, who is 58 years old, told AFP while sitting atop the gleaming, electric-blue quadricycle that he uses to travel through the streets at a maximum speed of approximately 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers).
According to official figures, there are around 600,000 cars registered on the island of 11.2 million inhabitants. Gonzalez has given up his old combustion-engine vehicle, which was one of them.
The most recent time he attempted to fill it up, he waited in line for a total of eight hours. The vast majority of vehicles on the road in Cuba are American models from the 1950s, which were produced before the imposition of restrictions, and compact Ladas from the time period of the Soviet Union.
The most recent versions are very difficult to get one’s hands on and come with a high price tag that ranges between around $20,000 and $100,000.
In contrast, the quadricycle that Gonzalez purchased can be had for a price somewhere between $4,000 and $8,000 and, although being slower, is capable of transporting four or five persons from Point A to Point B.
Also, electric motorcycles are also gaining popularity, of which it is believed that there are between 40,000 and 50,000 in Cuba, as well as three-wheelers, which may be seen more regularly hauling a carriage that is either loaded of people or products.
About one hundred employees of the business Minerva manufacture electric cars at a facility that was originally used to produce trucks during the Soviet period. The plant is located in the city of Santa Clara, which is in the central region of the country.
According to Minerva manager Elier Perez, who spoke with AFP, the goal for the year 2022 is to make 10,000 electric motorcycles, which would be quadruple the factory’s previous record, in addition to 2,000 three-wheelers.
A scurity officer named Raul Suarez, who is 52 years old, just purchased an electric motorcycle for himself. “I had to get one since the petrol ran out and the lineups are forever,” Suarez stated.
Not only are automobiles costly,