I Went to Bogota’s Latest EV Exposition. Now I’m Certain We’re Over the Tipping Point.

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Last weekend, the future was on display in Bogota.

From August 21^st to 24^th, a small EV exposition was hosted in Bogotá’s Carrera Mall, called Expoferia of EVs and HEVs (not very creative, I know). On Sunday, lacking anything better to do, I decided to stop by to check what was new on the block. And what I saw convinced me Colombia is now past the tipping point in its path towards electrification.

First of all, it was packed (if the pictures don’t look like it, it’s because I tried to get as few people in them as possible). I had issues getting the attention of every single representative I tried to speak with, every one of them being busy and with a couple more people waiting. And I couldn’t get into a single car. This is relevant insofar as the event was organized by a small vehicle/taxi company in their small mall, located in an otherwise not commonly visited area of Bogota.

Second, the event included “EVs and hybrids,” but the event was some 85% BEVs and 10% PHEVs, with HEVs accounting for just a handful of models (the Ford Escape and Maverick HEV were there). This is despite HEV sales accounting for more than double EV sales in the country.

And third, the event cemented the arrival of an array of affordable EVs that have landed in the country since June, including the Chery ICar 03, the Dongfeng Friday, the JAC E30X, the Deepal S05, and the GAC Aion V. More segments are getting wider availability, and the EV ecosystem now caters to a far larger array of tastes.

Besides these models, the event presented the newly arrived Geely Riddara (Radar) pickup, a couple of electric taxis which are now at price parity with their ICEV counterparts, and a wide array of micromobility alternatives, some of which are capable and quite affordable. Oh, and the Xiaomi SU7 was also on display.

Legacy automakers were also present in the event, with Chevrolet’s Blazer and Equinox EV, the aforementioned Ford Maverick and Escape HEV, the Kia EV5, and the Hyundai Kona. Honestly, the Equinox EV is quite a beautiful car, and it’s a shame it now costs $7,500 more than the EV5, as otherwise it would probably be leading its segment.

But what I found more relevant from the event was the pre-sale of the GAC Aion UT, a capable hatchback with a 44kWh battery which will arrive at Seagull pricing — that is, COP$81,000,000 (USD$20,100). This finally opens the B hatchback segment to price parity, putting pressure both on similar cars that are currently more expensive (JAC E30X) and on city-cars that offer less for a similar cost (BYD Seagull, Renault Kwid E-Tech, JAC E10X). GAC is not as important a brand as BYD is, so we’ll have to wait to see if there’s a cascade of discounts (as happened when the Seagull first arrived), or if the impact will be felt more slowly. But regardless, the winds of change are here.

The explosive growth in 2024 made many of us impatient as market share stopped rising and kept hovering around 8% throughout the last 8 months. But with the interest EVs are harnessing, and with the arrival of so many options in varied segments, I expect it will not take long for Colombia to start another rapid trend of growth and surpass 10% in the next few months, and perhaps 15% by the first half of next year.

What do you guys think? Am I being too optimistic here?

EDIT: Hopefully, this makes it to the final version. Just in: according to local media, the event was such a success that Expoferia will now become an annual exposition.