Electric Cars in Sao Paulo-Brazil

Brazil enters the Electric Car era tomorrow, June 5th, 2012.
Ok, don't get too excited, not just yet, a Nissan Leaf will be introduced at the price of R$120,000 Reais, (U$60,000) the price of a small apartament in Brazil ( Not in Sao Paulo).
In the spirit of alternative forms of transportation and the entire discussion around Sao Paulo's chaotic traffic after the epic record Friday, when congestion in the city registered 293kms, I decided to share these awesome news.
Nissan joined CET ( Companhia de Engenharia de Trafico - Sao Paulo's Traffic Authority) to start testing and developing the infra-structure for electric cars and charge stations in the city of Sao Paulo.
Brazil already has advanced infra-structure for alternative fuels, mostly likely the most advanced in the world.
There is Ethanol and Gasoline available at 100% of the existing gas station network in the country.
A HUGE percentage of these same gas stations offer Natural Gas for passanger cars and commercial vehicles all over Brazil.
My brother drives a Ford Eco Sport, made in Brazil, by Ford, and it came from factory with Alcohol and Gasoline capability, called FLEX technology, developed in Brazil and also available now in cars in the USA.
My brother also purchased a "Natural Gas" conversion kit and had it installed in his car, cutting his monthly fuel budget from U$320,00 ( Gasoline ) down to U$14,00 ( Natural Gas ), yeap, I know what is probably going thru your head right now. I thought exactly the same thing. Fat chance the BIG OIL and other powerful corporations in the US will ever allow us to enjoy such benefits of cheap Natural Gas to power our cars. I hate them almost as much as I hate the phone companies and the Airlines. ALMOST!!
The Natural Gas conversion kit is made in Sao Paulo by TURY DO BRASIL. It is very safe, reliable and 100% Brazilian technology, developed and manufactured in my home town of Sao Bernardo do Campo, just outside Sao Paulo, in the southern part of metropolitan area.
TURY DO BRASIL has been so successful that the company just recently started operations of a second unit in Rio de Janeiro to help supply the demand for Natural Gas conversion kits in Brazil and it's fast increasing exports to countries all over Latin America, Europe, the United States and Canada.

Natural Gas conversion kit developed and made by TURY do Brasil

You can read more about TURY DO BRASIL, in English HERE.
So, as mentioned in the begining of this post, the Nissan Leaf in Brazil will cost R$120,000 Reais in Sao Paulo, which is an insult and an absurd U$60,000 Dollars. Tax much!!
Each operating Taxi license at the Congonhas Airport location costs R$200,000 Reais, and CET has forecasted that the new Taxis will pay itself and the Taxi license in 6 months, with the fuel savings alone.
So the idea is to pay a large sum for the Nissan Leaf and the Taxi license and recover the cost from the fuel savings. Congonhas Aiport has the largest passanger volume in the country and will help the new pilot to take off with the fast return on the investment.
I say, clean energy is better, in Brazil we make electricity from the abundant amount of water from our many rivers. Clean and reneable energy at it's best.
The first 10 Electric Taxis will operate from the Congonhas Airport, which is the older (smaller) Airport inside the city, think La Guardia, in New York ( Domestic flights).
The Nissan Leaf has a 160Km of autonomy when fully charged. This is a pilot project and if it is successful, the plans will be to expand the fleet of electric Taxis in city and increase the amount of charge stations.

HERE you can read the original report from Noticias Automotivas website in Portuguese.

Brazil enters the Electric Car era! Nissan Leaf Taxis start operations in Sao Paulo June 5th 2012 

São Paulo inicia era do carro elétrico com 10 táxis Nissan Leaf

São Paulo terá sua primeira frota de táxis elétricos a partir de amanhã (05). A Nissan vai entregar à CET 10 exemplares do hatch Leaf. O modelo será utilizado como táxi em pontos de grande movimentação de pessoas, como o Aeroporto de Congonhas, por exemplo.
Neste local, o ponto de táxi custa R$200 mil e deve compensar o custo de aquisição do veículo, em torno de R$120 mil. Somente mediante a negociação com taxistas foi possível a distribuição dos veículos, que terão cinco pontos de recarga na cidade.
O projeto ainda é piloto e visa avaliar as condições de utilização e demanda de carros elétricos. Caso seja positivo, outros veículos deverão ser adquiridos e operados na cidade. O Nissan Leaf tem autonomia de 160 km e está em uma “turnê” de test drive pelo Brasil.