Last week, nearly 6.000 electric and hybrid cars arrived in our country. Imported from China by BYD Argentina, they sparked debate about automotive electrification in our nation.
In this context, Alejandro Emilio Sureda, Mag. Metallurgical Engineer, with 27 years of experience in the Automotive Industry and director of the Master's Program in Automotive Industry Management at the Faculty of Engineering | Universidad AustralHe was invited by Radio Mitre Rosario to discuss the potential impact of this Chinese arrival in Argentina.
The number of imported vehicles from China represents less than 1% of the total number of cars in the country: 15.7 million units. However, this number also represents 26% of what was sold in Argentina last year. Therefore, depending on how the data is interpreted, the impact is much greater.
What impact will the arrival of these cars have on the Argentine automotive industry?
“It begins to generate an awareness of the need to create a structure that Argentina does not have today,” the specialist shares. An infrastructure is needed that does not currently exist in the country, especially for cars that are 100% electric. Currently, the charging terminals for this type of vehicle are concentrated in CABA, with a presence of 70% of the total for the entire country. The problem is clear: these cars aren't designed for all Argentinians, but rather for those who live in major cities. Furthermore, they aren't a suitable means of transportation for long distances. In a country like ours, with its large land area, they are currently unsuitable for travel.
In the case of hybrid vehicles, the battery is charged through constant braking and acceleration. While driving, you accelerate and brake; at that moment, the battery recharges, and the car's computer automatically switches from combustion to electric mode. This reduces fuel consumption by approximately 50%. Furthermore, longer journeys are possible because they can run on gasoline, so the lack of electric charging stations on roads and highways is not a problem in these cases.
The electric vehicle charging station market is already underway. Major oil companies in Argentina are already looking to install charging stations, and two foreign companies are also working on placing charging stations in the country. In fact, one of them offered to install a charging station in the Universidad Austral.
But is the electricity grid prepared to meet the demand? “If today we all plugged in our cars at the same time as we turned on our air conditioners, not only would the system collapse, but we would see fireworks at the transformers on every corner,” Sureda reflects.
Problems with battery charging, but advantages in the motor and range
The great advantage of these vehicles is that the electric motor delivers 100% of its power from the start. This works very well in rural areas, where the need to move heavy loads or travel on uneven terrain is commonplace.
Some pickup trucks feature Vehicle-to-Road (V2RO) technology. What does that mean? It means the vehicle functions as a generator, allowing you to connect power tools directly to the vehicle's battery. This effectively gives you a mobile workshop in the middle of nowhere, without needing to carry a separate gasoline-powered generator.
Challenges in the system
To provide sufficient energy, three factors are needed: generation, transmission, and distribution. The first two are not a problem for Argentina, but distribution is. The Achilles' heel of the system is the power lines, which were designed for consumption levels 30 years ago. Charging an electric car consumes the equivalent of 8 air conditioners, how could the current electrical grid withstand the adoption of these vehicles?
2025 was a record year for sustainable mobility. For the first time, electrified vehicles accounted for 4,6% of total annual sales (26.632 units), pushing the total number of electrified vehicles on the road to over 50.000. However, this still only represents 0.6% of the total Argentine vehicle fleet.
In countries like the United States or Mexico, where the vehicle fleet is much larger, the tax burden is 15%, while in Argentina it is 56%. This reflects that the development of this technology may take somewhat longer in Argentina than in the rest of the world, “since the automotive industry is 15 years old, which is a very high value. It is an indicator of an ‘aging’ or ‘tired’ vehicle fleet, which generally reflects a low renewal rate and structural economic challenges.”
If you work in the automotive industry and feel you need to acquire new knowledge to face all these challenges, we invite you to learn about the master's program at Universidad Austral.
Website: Master's Degree in Mobility and Automotive Management
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