Following in the footsteps of its neighbor Colombia, Uruguay has added 50 BYD e6 fully electric taxis to its fleet, following a trial run that began in February 2015.

The Uruguay relies on a total fleet of 5,000 fossil fuel taxis, 60 percent of which are in the capital. A total of 62 percent of the country’s energy comes from imported fossil fuels – 29 percent of which is used for transportation – thus compelling the administration to set a serious decarbonization target of 30 percent by 2015, according to BYD.

To achieve such goals, the government will be offering subsidies and advantages to those willing to embrace electric taxis: the taxi license for a pure electric vehicle will have a $60,000 USD subsidy, which is 50-percent compared to a conventional taxi; owners will also be exempted of the 23-percent import tax on the vehicles. As for charging infrastructure, government stimulus policies will promote the installation of charging facilities with a $5,000 USD subsidy for each charging pole installed. Altogether, a single pure electric taxi in Uruguay will receive the equivalent to $100,000 USD in subsidies, according to BYD.