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Solar-powered tricycles help Cubans navigate fuel shortages and blackouts
Many are fitted with solar panels and cost $2,000 to $4,000, as owners turn to them to move goods and passengers through shortages.
- In Havana, Cuba, electric tricycles have replaced iconic vintage cars as the primary transportation for hundreds of thousands of Cubans grappling with a prolonged fuel crisis.
- President Donald Trump's January tariff threats against nations selling oil to Cuba exacerbated fuel shortages; oil tanker arrivals plummeted from eight monthly to a single vessel in late March.
- Electric tricycles from Chinese brands such as Zonsen, Jinpeng, and Vedca dominate the market, with many owners installing solar panels on vehicle awnings to recharge independently of the island's strained power grid.
- These tricycles cost between $2,000 and $4,000, forcing many Cubans to sell gasoline vehicles or invest business profits, while riders pay less than $1 per trip—a significant expense relative to monthly salaries.
- Engineer Carlos notes that solar modifications costing about $500 pay off quickly, as owners increasingly view these vehicles as a permanent solution to navigating the island's ongoing energy instability.
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22 Articles
22 Articles
Associated Press News+19 Reposted by 19 other sources
Solar-powered tricycles help Cubans navigate fuel shortages and blackouts
Cuba's vintage cars have largely vanished, but they are now being replaced by small electric tricycles.
·New York, United States
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Rough and throwing black smoke at pedestrians, the classic cars that until a year ago advanced like heavy dinosaurs on the streets of Cuba have almost disappeared.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources22
Leaning Left9Leaning Right2Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution47% Left
Bias Distribution
- 47% of the sources lean Left
47% Left
L 47%
C 42%
11%
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