A Cali Firm Bets Big on Colombia’s Missing EV Chargers
Business
Key Facts
—The plan. Cali-based Inpel will install around 400 public charging stations across Colombia over two years.
—The model. It uses co-investment with property owners, sharing the cost so no single player funds the whole build-out.
—The demand. Colombia registered 69,082 electrified vehicles in the first half of 2026, with pure-electric sales up 235%.
—The gap. Charging infrastructure has lagged sales, the very bottleneck Inpel says its plan is built to close.
—The incentives. Colombia offers a 50% income-tax deduction and zero VAT on charging equipment through 2027.
A company from Cali is making a big bet on Colombia’s missing charging stations. Its plan targets the infrastructure gap that has trailed a boom in electric-car sales.
The firm is Inpel, which has spent three decades in smart metering and electromobility. It plans to install about 400 public charging points nationwide over the next two years.
The plan for 400 charging stations
The build-out relies on a co-investment model. Rather than fund every site alone, Inpel shares the cost with the owners of the land or premises where the chargers go.
General manager María Juliana Arango says the market grows fastest when many players expand together. The company already runs stations logging more than 1,300 charging sessions a month on its own platform.
Inpel handles each station end to end, from design and installation to supply and operation. Inpel currently manages 34 charging points.
Chasing a runaway market
The timing tracks a surge in demand. Colombia registered 69,082 electrified vehicles in the first half of 2026, combining 24,477 pure-electric cars and 44,605 hybrids, according to ANDI and Fenalco.
The pure-electric segment jumped 235% from a year earlier. That pace has made Colombia one of the region’s largest electric-car markets, well ahead of neighbours like Peru.
Yet the charging network has not kept up. Arango frames the plan as an answer to the classic chicken-and-egg problem of whether cars or chargers should come first.
The rollout looks beyond the biggest cities. While Bogotá, Medellín and Cali have the most electric cars, Inpel says it also wants to serve mid-sized cities like Neiva and the coffee belt that have been overlooked.
The national backdrop is ambitious. The government has targeted more than 6,000 public charge points across the country, a goal the industry is still racing to meet.
Why it matters for buyers and investors
Policy is helping tilt the maths. Firms investing in charging can deduct half the outlay from income tax, and the equipment carries zero sales tax, both running through 2027.
For a foreign resident weighing an electric car, more public chargers means fewer range worries beyond the big cities. For investors, it signals a maturing market moving from pilots to national scale.
The shift also changes Inpel’s own role. The plan turns the company from a supplier of charging hardware into an operator of a national network, a bet on owning the infrastructure rather than just building it.
How many charging stations will Inpel build?
The Cali-based firm plans to install about 400 public charging stations across Colombia over two years, using a co-investment model with property owners. It already runs stations logging more than 1,300 charging sessions a month.
How fast is Colombia’s EV market growing?
Colombia registered 69,082 electrified vehicles in the first half of 2026, including 24,477 pure-electric cars. The pure-electric segment grew 235% from a year earlier, making Colombia one of the region’s biggest markets.
What incentives support EV charging in Colombia?
Companies that invest in charging infrastructure can deduct 50% of the investment from income tax, spread over two years, and the equipment is exempt from sales tax. Both incentives run through 2027.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many public charging stations does Inpel plan to install?
Inpel plans to install about 400 public charging stations across Colombia over two years.
How fast did pure-electric car sales grow in Colombia?
Pure-electric car sales grew 235% from a year earlier, with 24,477 units registered in the first half of 2026.
What tax incentives does Colombia offer for charging infrastructure?
Companies can deduct 50% of the investment from income tax and pay zero VAT on charging equipment, both running through 2027.
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