An electric vehicle made in Bolivia has a top speed of 56 km/h and can carry three people, “but they can’t be very big”.
High in the Andes, the electric vehicle revolution has arrived. It does not exceed 56 km/h and can be a bit claustrophobic.
While Tesla and other automakers pride themselves on producing streamlined and luxurious electric vehicles, some with speeds over 200 mph, Quantum Motors of Bolivia offers a much smoother ride.
The size of a golf cart and built like a box, Quantum’s cars can technically seat three people with room up front for the driver and two passengers crammed into the back. Forget a trunk. Or long road trips. It can travel 60 miles before needing a recharge, which can take six to eight hours.
“It was love at first sight,” says Daniel Derenne, a 62-year-old retiree from Cochabamba who bought a Quantum shortly after its launch in September 2019.
Today, he traveled 9,650 km in his small vehicle. He attests that he can fit three people, “but they can’t be very big”.
Derenne had a sticker on the rear window indicating that the vehicle was electric and non-polluting. He hoped it would encourage others to switch to electric vehicles, a rarity in Bolivia.
Most people applauded his message, he said. But some drivers thought he was accusing them of polluting. As they tortured each other before his ride, Derenne remembers some drivers pointing their middle fingers at him. And the bus drivers called his car a the clog.
“They don’t respect you at all,” Derenne says.
The founders of Quantum believe that this vehicle, the first manufactured in Bolivia, is the future of the automotive industry in Latin America, where 670 million people live. On the traffic-packed streets of the developing world, miniature cars make more sense, says Carlos Soruco, one of the founders of Quantum. And it’s much cheaper to drive than conventional cars. Quantum owners say they spend around $7 a month to charge their car.
The made-in-Bolivia electric vehicle can be plugged into any electrical outlet, eliminating the need to invest in expensive charging stations. Finding parking is child’s play. Its $7,500 price tag makes it far more affordable than the flashier EVs hitting the streets in the US and Europe.
“We are convinced that the development of electric vehicles in Latin America will not happen with Teslas or Volkswagens,” says Soruco.
So far, Quantum has sold 370 cars.
Bolivians have long dreamed of having their own auto industry, believing it would allow one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere to reduce its economic dependence on the export of raw materials, from silver to gas natural. Politicians promise that their landlocked nation will one day use its vast lithium deposits, the largest in the world, to fuel the global transition to greener energy.
Medical student Angie Sciaraffia was thrilled to buy a Bolivian-made car with a rear-view mirror small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. He opted for a Diamond Blue Quantum with tinted windows and a sunroof.
“Having a Bolivian car is spectacular,” Sciaraffia said, describing it as easy to drive. “Just accelerate and brake.”
In Bolivia, Quantum has a small but loyal following among car owners like Sciaraffia, who honks and waves to other Quantum drivers when seen on the streets of Cochabamba.
Ximena Pérez loves hers. She bought the car during the pandemic, fearful of taking crowded buses. Pérez says he never felt like the car ran out of space, except once when he went camping. He struggled to stow his tent, a spare tire and his dog in the back of the Quantum. Luckily her dog is a Chihuahua.
“It’s made for the car,” he says.
Initially, the company could not register its cars in Bolivia because local laws required all vehicles to have an import document, the standard paperwork in a country where no one had ever built a car before. Insurance companies were reluctant to provide coverage. Banks didn’t know how to structure car loans.
Quantum closed for a few weeks just after it opened in 2019 when violent political protests paralyzed Bolivia. Then came the pandemic, disrupting global supply chains and making it more expensive to import Chinese parts. Today, the shortage of dollars in Bolivia makes it difficult to pay for imports.
Despite Bolivia’s huge lithium resources, the country barely produces due to tight state control that has hampered private investment. As a result, Quantum’s batteries use lithium from China.
José Carlos Márquez, an engineer who is the other founder of Quantum, came up with the idea for the electric vehicle in 2015 while building an electric forklift for miners. He is convinced that the transition to electric vehicles will require reducing the size of cars to avoid wasting energy.
Edgar Roman purchased his Quantum in 2020. He uses it for his work, which requires him to travel to government offices to complete paperwork for importing construction equipment.
“I like it,” Roman says. He recounted how passers-by shouted asking how long the battery lasted and if they could go for a walk.
The Quantum, Roman said, tends to start with a jerk instead of gradually accelerating and offers a bumpier ride than his other car, a Nissan. The Bolivian car has no heating, so it is cold in winter. Roman says it’s also awkward trying to talk to his wife while she’s sitting behind him.
“You have to do this,” he said, showing how he would turn his head back to talk to this woman, like a taxi driver. “She was like, ‘What?'”
Once, the battery nearly ran out. He arrived home riding at the speed of a jogger. Other vehicles honked at him to stop. His mother was sitting in the back seat.
“She was like, ‘You can do it Quantum, you can do it.'”
Source: Latercera
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
