On an exclusive interview to The Next Avenue, Gaia’s founder, and CEO, Ivan Gorski talked about the brand new electric vehicle coming up soon in the Brazilian market.

The EV market is still in a growing process, but most of it is only present in countries in Europe, North America, and Asia, which is usually a problem for Latin American countries. Gaia is arriving to change that scenario, even if it only calls the attention of other car companies to look to South America.

Ivan started the conversation talking about what has been going on in the market and how and why Gaia is entering this universe: “Younger Generations are not as much interested in the car market as the previous ones.” Gorski said. “The production line of cars hasn’t changed. A car is made the same way as it was in the 1950s.”

What he means by that is the fact that vehicles are still being made to be big, strong, but now are expensive and inefficient to go the short range. This also pushes people away from purchasing a vehicle, the CEO stated. “A couple of decades ago, a young worker could buy a car with ten months of salary. Now, the companies completely ignore the young public, making prices go incredibly high”.

With this scenario, Gaia is coming to the market with the same philosophy as technology companies, who have their foundations on the customer’s opinions. With that, they speed up the sustainable transportation on Brasil and Latin America. The company says it is here for Generation Y.

Source: Gaiaelectric.com.br

The vehicle has two 25kW electric motors, and a range of 125 miles (200km), with a maximum speed of 80 mph (130km/h) and it only weighs 400 kg. Other unique aspects of it are the facts that Gaia has no doors, and it can only be turned on by a code shared on your phone. The battery can be fully charged in eight hours.

The best fit for Gaia would be in cities in the countryside, cities close to beaches or even smaller neighborhoods. “Of course, it can be used in bigger places, but the commuting can be more challenging.” said Ivan. This is perfect for the Brazilian public since 75% of the population lives outside the capitals.

With plans to reach a market value of 1 billion Reais (USD260,000,000) in five years, Gaia is still aiming to reach only Latin America, at least on the next few years.

According to Gorski, the vehicle will be better used if it enters the market where you can share your ride: “The cost benefit is way more worthy if you buy a Gaia, and share it by a cost with someone. This person pays you an amount of money depending on the distance and adding up the rides, you can regain the money you used to buy the vehicle.” The CEO also exhibited an advantage for companies looking to optimize the transportation of employees:

“With a small fleet, the company could have a minimum cost of commuting, and Gaia would be the best choice for that.”

Inside the Gaia

With 100 reservations on the first week, Gaia will arrive in the Brazilian market with the cost of 80,000 Reais (around USD20,800), which is a reasonable price for a vehicle in Brazil, since car prices in the country can be highly taxed and not be affordable to most of the population.

The dates of release are still not available, but the product will start being made this year yet, and a test drive event will take place on the second semester of the year.

You can check more about Gaia on their website. (Note: The language on the website is Brazilian Portuguese).