The sales of Titus electric car they grew in 2022 more than expected, and Coradir, the manufacturer based in San Luis, planned a 2023 with more production to meet demand. However, one of the obstacles of this model to continue winning customers is the restricted license to circulatesince the Tito electric car today cannot be used on routes and highways.
That is why the manufacturers of Tito are looking for a change, and according to Juan Manuel Bareto, president of Coradir, “The elimination of the movement restriction, unique in the world, of category L7b motor vehicles on highways is already being processed at the Ministry of Transport”.
In addition, he anticipated iProfessional that “It is estimated that the restriction will be eliminated within six months”.
Why the Tito electric car cannot be used on routes today
According to Bareto, the “Elimination of the movement restriction on routes and highways for L6b and L7b vehicles, provided for in article 48, subsection m2, of Decree 32/2018 of the Ministry of Transportation“.
Decree 32/2018 is a modification of Decree 779/1995 regulating Traffic Law No. 24,449. In this decree several issues are updated, among them the incorporation of quadricycles L6 and L7 in accordance with the regulations of the European Union (which is accepted in Argentina to approve vehicles with EEC), which had already incorporated them a few years before.
Tito added a model with more power and speed
For reasons not specified in the decree, at the same time that they are incorporated and regulate quadricyclesa r is added ad hoc to the regulationsrestriction of their circulation on routes and highways It does not appear in European regulations or in that of any country that has adopted it. This is so because the circulation restriction in the case of L6, which has a speed limit of 50 km/h, is in the traffic law itself since the Minimum driving speed on any route is half the maximum speed, which, on high-speed highways, is greater than 100 km/h.
In the case of L7 Heavy Quadricycles, the EU determines a maximum speed of 90 km/h and no road restrictions. In Argentina, the maximum speed was eliminated, but the circulation limitation was added, which is considered incongruous. “You can go at high speeds where these speeds are prohibited, but driving is prohibited where they are allowed”, they explain from Coradir.
Authorization for different vehicles
The text of the subparagraph in question says verbatim: “m.2) The circulation of vehicles defined in Annex A of this regime, which correspond to Categories: L6(b) and L7(b) on highways, semi-highways, is prohibited. , highways or routes.”
The inconsistency of this prohibition is clear from the very reading of the paragraph: “Only quadricycles are prohibited, but not tricycles of the same weight and speed”, explains Bareto. These tricycles (L5 a and b. L2) do not have any movement restrictions and are exactly the same vehicle, only with three wheels instead of four wheels.
Furthermore, they explain that no two- or three-wheeled vehicle is prohibited from driving, including mopeds:
Category L1: motor vehicles with two wheels, with a thermal engine of a displacement that does not exceed 50 cc or with an electric motor whose nominal continuous power is less than or equal to 4 KW, and that in both cases does not exceed a higher maximum design (project) speed at 50 km/h. These can circulate by routes.
The same happens with cabin tricycles:
Category L5(b): motor vehicles with 3 wheels, cabin, placed in a symmetrical position in relation to the median longitudinal axis, with a maximum allowable load that does not exceed 1,000 kg, with a thermal engine of a displacement greater than 50 cc, or with an electric motor whose nominal power continues is greater than 4 kW and in both cases that it can develop a speed greater than 50 km/h. That is to say, L5(b) can drive on routes and L7(b) cannot.
Lastly, the L7(b) model for transporting people is added.
Tito electric car: its use will be expanded
According to Coradir, the prohibition to circulate is a mistake, since it would be absurd to assume that a three-wheeled vehicle is safer than a four-wheeled one with the same measurements, power, speed and weight. “Here we assume that the restriction derives from security considerations since it is the only factor that can generate prohibitions,” they comment. That is why this restriction appears as unique in the world.
At the time of the publication of the decree, there was no company in Argentina dedicated to the production of these products, but the situation has changed radically., since several companies have appeared in the country manufacturing and designing. On the other hand, there has been a great acceptance by the public, now limited by this inconvenience.
Tito also added the most practical version with 5 doors
“In the interior of Argentina, there are many nearby towns linked by provincial highways (80 km/h maximum), which people use daily for their activities. It is necessary to eliminate this prohibition that removes the possibility of using small, economical and ecological cars made in Argentina to the people who live in those towns,” they explain.
These reasons are the basis for requesting that this error is rectified by deleting the subparagraph in question of the current norm.
