- enel x works on evs and renewable-energy projects around the world and has installed more than 200 new charging points in south and central america to make a really long west coast journey possible for ev drivers.
- the infrastructure expansion was made as part of the new long way up television documentary, which sees ewan mcgregor and a friend (pictured above) ride electric harleys north to los angeles from the southern tip of argentina.
- south america is not exactly an ev hot spot, but at least one research firm predicted the "nascent latin american market" recently passed an inflection point.
when it comes to electric vehicles, the main global markets are china, europe, and north america. despite the never-ending discussion about range anxiety, evs don't necessarily want to be penned in.
now, thanks to enel x, electric vehicle drivers now have a way to drive from north america all the way down to ushuaia in southern argentina. enel x recently installed 220 of its juicebox charging points in 11 south and central american countries: argentina, bolivia, chile, colombia, costa rica, guatemala, honduras, mexico (including down to ensenada, on the baja california peninsula), nicaragua, panama, and peru. the new "100% electric pan-american charging corridor" takes ev drivers along the andes mountains, allowing them to follow along the 13,000-mile route that actor ewan mcgregor and his friend charley boorman took using electric motorcycles in the new apple tv+ series long way up. the two men drove electric harley-davidson bikes from ushuaia to los angeles, and ener x's pan-american charging corridor is featured in the documentary program.
while livewire electric motorcycles, the first harley‑davidson electric motorcycles, are the ev stars of the show, the film crew rode along in electric rivian pick-up trucks, making the entire operation a tough test bed for new electric vehicles.
it might be a bit easier for those who come after. of the 220 new charge points, 196 are now integrated in enel x's juicepass app, which allows users to manage the charging services available at connected public and private charging locations. enel x also sells the juicebox level 2 smart ev charger and has a proprietary smart charging platform called juicenet, that "optimizes grid conditions, increases driver convenience, and allows charging with the cleanest and cheapest energy available," the company said.
a report issued by research and markets in january—remember january?—said that 2018 and 2019 represented "an inflection point for the nascent latin american market of electric vehicles" and predicted that the latin american market for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles will grow from fewer than 4,000 in 2018 to over 43,000 in 2025.
enel x has long viewed electric vehicles as a worldwide issue, and it manages around 130,000 public and private ev charging points around the globe. that's an increase of 30,000 over what enel x said it had earlier this summer, showing growth even in a challenging year like 2020. at the 2020 ces trade show in january, enel x introduced juiceability, a way to charge electric wheelchairs (pictured above) using electric vehicle infrastructure. in march, enel x partnered with the psa group in italy to offer customized charging solutions to buyers of new peugeot, citroën, ds, and opel electric vehicles. the company also has renewable-energy and demand-response programs in places including chile, taiwan, and india.