Antonio Carbonell Reyes, Project Engineering Manager at VG Mobility, was one of the featured speakers at the Latam Mobility Summit Colombia 2023, Latin America’s most important sustainable mobility meeting held June 6-7 at the impressive Orquideorama at the Botanical Garden in Medellin.
With his extensive knowledge and experience in the field of electric mobility, Carbonell Reyes captivated the audience with his presentation after providing an innovative and transformative vision on the challenges and opportunities related to electric backyards.
There, he showcased the approach of VG Mobility, a company committed to electric mobility and a leader focused on delivering complete projects ranging from infrastructure to the assets needed to provide electric mobility services.
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Comprehensive Approach to Electric Mobility
As a company, they have an outstanding presence in Colombia and Chile with the goal of expanding throughout the Americas, from the United States to Patagonia.
They currently have three public transportation projects in Bogota, which have been successfully implemented using 406 electric buses.
In addition, they are carrying out an innovative project in the regions, specifically in Santiago, demonstrating the possibilities of electric mobility in intermediate cities. One of the most outstanding examples of the company’s work is in Chile. There, they partnered with COPEC to finance both the fixed assets and the infrastructure needed for an 8-year project.
So far, these assets have traveled more than 28 million kilometers, equivalent to more than 700 times around the world. This demonstrates that electric mobility technology is proven and ready for large-scale deployment.
Energy Consumption Challenge
It is important to keep in mind that electric mobility requires significant energy consumption, especially at specific times of the day. Thus, Bogota’s three main yards consume the energy equivalent of nearly 20,000 homes for an entire year.
Therefore, it is crucial to address the issue of energy consumption and find solutions that can meet the demand efficiently. Furthermore, at VG Mobility, they understand the importance of designing and optimizing the charging infrastructure.
To reduce costs and maximize efficiency they adopted innovative approaches, i.e. instead of installing one charging hose per bus, they implemented a system called “split” that allows up to 12 units to be connected to a single 360 kW charger.
Although the charging time is longer, this reduces pressure on the power grid and avoids the need to oversize the infrastructure.
Finally, beyond charging infrastructure, yard design and operational solutions play a key role in electric mobility. By working in partnership with public transport operators, they created solutions that adapt to their needs and facilitate their daily operation over the 15-year lifespan of the assets.
“We should not be afraid of large, major projects in terms of infrastructure because there are players here who know the Bogota market. They already have many yards. We have learned our own mistakes from our counterparts,” said Carbonell Reyes to close his presentation in Medellín.
