Finding balance in eco-friendly cars in Brazil

By A. Ribeiro do Prado

How can we balance the high cost of electric cars and the pursuit of a more sustainable future?


Electric cars are significantly more expensive than cars that run on gas. Some people would argue that electric cars cost more than the cars that run by gas because filling a car that runs with gas costs way more than if you charge your car, so in the long term you would save money that you would spend on gas. Hybrid cars, hybrid meaning it runs on gas and electricity, are more popular because they have a bigger autonomy than electric cars, however they pollute less than cars that only run with gas.


The Chinese company BYD has changed the electric car market in Brazil with its new and cheaper electric cars such as the Mini Dolphin, the Dolphin Plus, the Seal, the Yuan plus, and the Song Plus, a hybrid SUV.


In 2023 1% of the cars sold were electric, around 19 thousand units sold across the country. As of April 2024, there are around 78 thousand electric cars in Brazil.


The problem that most people face is the lack of chargers in infrastructure in Brazil, which is a bigger problem for people that travel by car because they can’t just stop in a charging station and charge their car. In the United States, however, they have super chargers that take minutes to charge cars, yet regular chargers take way hours. In the United States they have super chargers spread along the whole country because as of 2023 there were more than 3.3 million electric vehicles, so in the United States there is way more demand than in Brazil. But in Brazil the numbers are growing, and it is believed that in January 2025 Brazil will have more than 100 thousand electric vehicles.
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Some of the leading electric car manufactures are BYD, Tesla, Hyundai, BMW and Mercedes Benz. With that, the government should change the infrastructure in gas stations to house electric chargers.