The rumble of 1959 Chevrolets, once the rhythmic heartbeat of Havana, is fading to the near silence of electric vehicles as the island faces its worst fuel shortage in years.
For six decades, Cuba’s roads changed little, defined by colorful vintage cars. But in recent years, Cubans increasingly adopted electric vehicles as fuel became more scarce. Now, they are helping the population grapple with a worsening fuel crisis, since the U.S. cut off oil exports from the communist-run country’s ally Venezuela and threatened to penalize other countries exporting fuel to the island.
Donald Trump’s administration has declared Cuba “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security.
Given that Cuba’s entire grid has now failed, sewage is backing up into the streets, and nobody has access to food, water, medicine, or communications, I doubt a few Teslas are going to save them. Cuba is about to be known for mass starvation and disease, not electric vehicles.
The thing is that all this isnt surprising to Cubans at all. They have always more or less lived like this, which is why there has been an ongoing decade long trend to off grid or local grid solar. Also this is of course not about Teslas lmao. A basic electric vehicle is like the simplest fucking device ever. You can build an electric scooter for super cheap. Also turning something like one of these tricycles from gas powered to electric saves a lot of cost.
It’s one thing to go off-grid when your country has a functioning infrastructure and supply lines. It’s more than a little different when pretty much everything has collapsed, people are starving and desperate, and disease is running rampant due to lack of clean water and sanitation. I really don’t think many people in Cuba right now are thinking thank GOD I have my electric scooter!