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Tuesday, May 09, 2017

A Sip Of Electricity To Keep Driving

A Sip Of Electricity To Keep Driving

14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 8 May 2017 — The worst thing that
can happen to Agustín is to have his battery go dead in the street. It
is even more terrible than the failure of a headlamp or the lack of
parking for his made-in-China electric motorcycle. The broken headlamp
and the lack of a safe place to park can be solved with money, but the
lack of energy requires more than a few banknotes slipped into the right
hands.

The number of owners of electric motorcycles has grown in Cuba since
Raul Castro's government authorized them to be imported. The serious
problems of transport that the island suffers have led many to choose to
buy a motorina from the digital sites that ship them to the island for a
price of around 1,600 CUC (roughly $1,600 US), and up to 2,500 CUC in
the informal market.

However, after spending the amount, the owner must overcome other
obstacles. Charging the bikes remains one of the biggest problems. Most
of the service stations in the country do not yet offer the service of
supplying electricity, and there are no outlets available in the streets
for these purposes.

As a result, creativity explodes and entrepreneurs try to take advantage
of the demand. In recent years cables have appeared to raise and lower
products (and payment) from balconies, and now the sellers, instead of
offering tobacco or rum, announce an hour of connection to their house's
electricity.

There are also plenty of merchants who take the opportunity to sell the
thirsty driver everything from a fruit smoothie to a pizza to "recharge
the human batteries," the ones that are struggling to keep going at the
controls of everyday life.

Source: A Sip Of Electricity To Keep Driving – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/a-sip-of-electricity-to-keep-driving/

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