The challenge of electric mobility in Paraguay: development, regulations and incentives

Abstract

Paraguay is characterized by its clean and renewable energy generation, being one of the largest per capita hydropower producers in the world. Paradoxically, biomass and petroleum products are privileged as sources for final energy consumption. In the transport sector, the public fleet is old and mainly runs on imported gasoil, while the private fleet has increased rapidly in the last decade, putting under pressure the sustainability of the urban transport. In this study we make an overview of the transport sector in Paraguay, evaluating the main challenges of the country in the transition to the electric mobility. We propose an analysis of the evolution of the vehicle fleet, the energy consumption in the transport sector, the different norms and regulation for electric vehicles and the incentives to accelerate the transition to electric mobility. We propose to reinforce not only the economic and tax incentives for electric vehicles, but to work in the whole ecosystem of the electric mobility to accelerate the transition to a cleaner transport sector.