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Panama City, Dec 6 (EFE).- Motorists traveling between Panama City and San Jose, Costa Rica, can keep their environmental footprint to a minimum now that a new \u201celectric route\u201d has been established on the Pan American Highway.<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides reducing emissions, the goal is for both countries to join forces so the government and private sector can promote citizens\u2019 adoption of electric vehicles,\u201d Alexander Fragueiro, the Panamanian Energy Secretariat\u2019s national consultant on electric mobility, told Efe.<\/p>\n
Sixty recharge points are located along the route in Panamanian territory, while Costa Rica boasts 43 Direct Current Fast Chargers (which take about an hour to recharge an EV\u2019s battery) and 150 Level 2 (semi-fast) chargers (roughly eight hours for a full charge, depending on the type of car and battery).<\/p>\n
Most of the recharge points are strategically located at commercial establishments on the side of the PanAm Highway, a network of roads that stretches across the Americas.<\/p>\n
To advertise this new regional sustainability initiative, a caravan of EVs last week covered the entire, nearly 900-kilometer (560-mile) route from Costa Rica\u2019s capital to Panama City.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very happy and enthusiastic. The San Jose-Panama City electric route has several recharge points so those of us with electric vehicles can move from capital to capital,\u201d the executive director of the Costa Rican Electric Mobility Association, Silvia Rojas, told Efe.<\/p>\n
Private sector companies have provided a key boost to the initiative by setting up recharge points at their establishments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing that the private sector is increasingly enthusiastic and all-in on electric mobility. We arrived in Panama, showing that indeed it is possible,\u201d Rojas added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vehicles\u2019 technology is zero emissions,\u201d but where that electricity comes from also matters, she said,<\/p>\n
In that regard, \u201c99 percent of the electricity is renewable on the Costa Rican side of this electric route, and on the Panamanian side they\u2019re also producing (electricity from) wind and solar,\u201d Rojas said.<\/p>\n
One of the companies that offers clean-energy recharge points in Panama is La Casa de las Baterias, a battery retailer and energy systems services provider that uses solar panels for its power needs and has branches located at different points along the highway.<\/p>\n
\u201c100 percent of the power we deliver is renewable. Besides our commitment to electric mobility, we\u2019re committed to sustainable energy,\u201d Manuel Gimenez, a solar energy and e-mobility specialist at La Casa de las Baterias, told Efe.<\/p>\n
The Evergo technology platform also offers a chain of charging stations along the route, one of that company\u2019s spokespersons, Norberto Cussati, said.<\/p>\n
Fragueiro said that electric vehicles not only are more environmentally friendly but also cheaper than automobiles powered by fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can cost around $8 to go from Costa Rica to Panama, while with an Internal Combustion Engine vehicle it can be more than $25 or $50,\u201d he added. EFE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Panama City, Dec 6 (EFE).- Motorists traveling between Panama City and San Jose, Costa Rica, can keep their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-articles-panama-perpsective"],"yoast_head":"\n