Italy’s biggest utility Enel - one of the world’s biggest green energy producers - has teamed up with the public transport system in Chile's capital Santiago to roll out its first fleet of electric buses, the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera attended the ceremony in Santiago to deliver the first 100 electric buses to public transport company Transantiago, the statement said.
"Enel X is a fundamental partner of the project, both its funding and in designing the technology for the Chinese-made electric buses," said the statement.
With the introduction of electric vehicles, Chile becomes the second country in the world for e-mobility in the urban mass transport sector, according to the statement.
Chile's transition to electric mobility will bring benefits in terms of efficiency in the medium and long term, the statement underlined.
The cost per kilometre of running the electric buses is 70 pesos compared to 300 pesos for diesel vehicles, while their zero environmental emissions will improve air quality in Santiago, which has the fourth highest levels of fine dust particles of any Latin American capital.
"The new vehicles will also bring significant improvements for passengers as they are equipped with charging points for electronic devices, wifi routers and air conditioning," the statement added.
Pinera has played a key role in moves to modernise Transantiago, with the aim of making the Chilean capital's public transport system more competitive and efficient, through tenders with incentives for companies that operate vehicles with a lower environmental emissions, the statement concluded.
