2.1. Current Situation in Cuba with the Use of Fuels in Transport
In general, the automotive transport sector consumes 992 thousand tons of fuel annually, where 99.98% of vehicles consume gasoline and diesel, while only 0.2% use other types of fuel (gas, electricity and others). However, the quantity of each of these fuels (diesel, petrol and other) in each class is not homogeneous, and the consumption standard for each differs. 69.4% of the gasoline is consumed by cars and buses, while 69.3% of diesel is consumed in trucks and buses (
Figure 1).
Although the electric mobility has its detractors within the electricity sector itself, companies in the electrical sector can benefit greatly from it, this may be based on the fact that EVs represent a source of new power demand and energy consumption for the electricity sector.
For example, in 2014 the Edison Electric Institute stated that bringing electricity to the transport sector would be a huge opportunity, although in the long term, for the growth of load in the electricity sector; whereas on the basis that a typical VE could consume some 261 kWh per month, the forecast was that demand in a US household would grow by up to 40% [
10]. Other reports, from the same period, estimated that a VE which would have driven 15,000 km per year (with a consumption of approximately 3,500 kWh) It would approximately double the domestic energy use in the Netherlands or Germany [
11,
12].
Although EVs could have this impact on the power grid, they could represent an opportunity for profit for the same, from their flexibility and energy storage capacity. Managing the burden of EVs, considering the application of V2G technology by offering a certain compensation to owners of EVs, whether private or state-owned, the electricity grid can benefit. These benefits may be peak displacement and demand response.
The possibility of using V2G technology has been shown in many tests, both for public and domestic charging. Already in 2018, according to [
13] in the UK, there were two approved models (LEAF and e-NV2000) that allowed this technology to be used in the home. With the vehicle connected to the grid, users could charge the car when energy was cheap, and sell it when demand made the price higher. The result of using this technology was that users were receiving up to 1300 euros per year in compensation for the service.
Regarding the production of EVs in Cuba, in [
14] it was reported that at the end of 2022, a total of 23,361 electric motorcycles and tricycles had been assembled in Cuba, with the possibility of increasing these productions. An international economic partnership with a company in China would create alternative solutions to the difficulties of public transport [
14]. This would allow the implementation of the project to introduce EVs in the country. On the other hand, according to [
15] by the end of March 2024 more than 100 thousand EVs, of different characteristics, had entered in the country.
In the case of Latin America, for example, it has been suggested that if no action is taken to change this situation, by 2050 the region’s car fleet in Latin America could triple and exceed 200 million units. According to the International Energy Agency estimates based on the Methodology for the Assessment of the Integrated Benefits of Electric Mobility Policies, carried out by the Clean Air Institute (Clean Air Institute) [
16], showed that in cities with high density of urban transport in Latin America, the replacement of this by EVs could bring about an appreciable decrease in polluting elements such as particulate matter, carbon dioxide, black carbon and methane and a decrease in mortality from air quality related diseases as shown in
Figure 2.
The decarbonization of transport, through the deployment of electric mobility, should be seen as an effective solution to transform the sector, improve quality of life, protecting human health and contributing to the implementation of climate commitments by countries under the Paris Agreement.
In the case of Cuba, the introduction of electromobility is even more urgent given the problems with access to fuel, which makes it a necessity for life rather than a variant required to limit the effects of climate change, without disregarding this last consideration, and the introduction of this technology, both in the transport sector and in different areas of Cuban society and the business sector, such as tourism, agriculture and the energy sector itself, to name a few, can contribute a lot to a sustainable response to the current fuel problem.
2.2. Main Barriers to the Introduction of Electromobility in Cuba
Notwithstanding this need for the replacement of the combustion fleet in Cuba by EVs, there are some elements that must be analyzed, among which is the replacement without adequate preparation and planning. Today, it can be said that in Cuba there is still no road map to achieve this transformation.
Another problem is the electricity tariffs, which are still subsidized by the state. This is a topic to be analyzed in Cuba, with the introduction of electromobility.
Likewise, the lack of knowledge currently associated with technologies associated with electromobility requires to evaluate them, such as the use of intelligent charging, types of connectors and communication protocols between charging stations and EVs.
On the other hand, there is still no regulatory framework for the introduction of these technologies and there is reluctance to evaluate a scheme for electrification of hybrid fuel cell transport, with hydrogen as the basis for charging batteries.