Mexico Has Prototypes for Its Own Compact EV, President Says

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico has prototypes for a domestically-manufactured compact electric vehicle that could in time rival those made in countries such as India, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday.

Sheinbaum, a former energy researcher who made the small car part of her pledges in her Oct. 1 inauguration address, said the goal is for all components to be made locally. It’s part of a bid to develop Mexico’s supply chains and become less reliant on imports.

“We are going to generate supply chains so that everything that is in the electric car is manufactured in the country and we import as little as possible,” Sheinbaum said at her daily press briefing.

The president didn’t name specific companies that could produce EVs, but said that Mexican manufacturers of motors will work together with researchers on potentially multiple models, if all goes according to plan.

“There are companies in Mexico that have been making electric motors for a long time, so the idea is to bring them together with Mexican researchers so that they can assemble this electric vehicle,” she said.

Unlike a Tesla Inc. vehicle, the car will be easier to make, resembling the small alternatives to motorcycles that are produced in China and India, Sheinbaum said. It will achieve the twin goals of making roadways safer and of developing Mexico’s copper and lithium industries, she said.

Former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared that lithium would be property of the nation, but it is embedded in clay in Mexico’s reserves, which has slowed the process of developing it as a resource. The state is working on the technology to extract it at an affordable cost, Sheinbaum said Friday.

Budget Chinese-made mopeds have become popular in parts of Mexico City congested with traffic. Indian mini cars have been used as taxis in parts of the country’s south. Chinese electric car giants such as BYD Co. have looked to increase sales in Mexico, even as top Mexican officials have pledged recently that they are looking to wean themselves off Asian imports.