Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller discusses the persistent belief among many Latin Americans that the American dream is still alive and attainable, despite the harsh realities faced by those who attempt to migrate to the United States. He critiques the romanticized view of the American dream held by some Latin Americans, especially those who have migrated illegally or have family members in the U.S., and highlights the stark contrast between the American dream as it was perceived in the past and its current state. Johnny also points out the irony that educated and affluent Latin Americans understand the American dream's unattainability, but the majority of the population continues to believe in it, often fueled by social media and the stories of those who have migrated.
Johnny Mueller discusses the perception of the American dream among Latin Americans, highlighting how they are largely unaware or indifferent to the challenges of homeownership and inflation in the United States. He argues that for many Latin Americans, the American dream is not about financial stability or middle-class living but rather about securing an unskilled job in the U.S. at minimum wage, which they view as a significant improvement over their home countries' economic conditions. He also touches on the cultural and economic differences between Latin America and the U.S., such as water usage and hygiene habits, to illustrate the challenges faced by undocumented immigrants.
Johnny Mueller discusses the perception of the American dream among Latinas, comparing the low minimum wage in the US to what they might consider a fortune in their home countries. He highlights the disparity between the American dream and the reality faced by many Latinos, who often do not achieve the middle-class lifestyle they expect. He then shifts to discussing a reader's plan B to move to Argentina, noting the complexities of property ownership through legal structures like a Guatemalan SA corporation. Johnny acknowledges the potential of Argentina under President Malay but expresses concerns about the political landscape and the challenges of bureaucracy and social spending.
Johnny Mueller discusses the cost of living in Argentina, noting that it is as expensive as the U.S. and more in some cases. He attributes this to the impact of the pandemic and the elimination of subsidies. Despite the high cost, he highlights that Argentina is relatively isolated from global events and has fewer immigration issues compared to the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Western Europe. He also mentions his intention to return to Argentina to assess its current state. Later, he addresses a reader's email about a Tesla Model Y, noting that while it has many features, its low ground clearance makes it unsuitable for driving in Latin America due to speed bumps and flooded intersections. He recommends Chinese-made BYD electric vehicles as a more practical option due to their higher ground clearance and affordability.
Johnny Mueller discusses the considerations for buying an electric vehicle (EV) in Latin America, focusing on the availability of models, warranty support, and practical aspects like charging infrastructure. He highlights the 2026 Kia EV 9, Hyundai Ionic 9, and Toyota BZ4X as top contenders, emphasizing the importance of local dealership support and warranty coverage. He also addresses the challenges of Tesla ownership in the region, such as the lack of local service centers and the potential for long repair times. Additionally, he mentions the benefits of solar charging and the cost-effectiveness of EVs in the context of high gas prices in Latin America.
Episode Notes
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller examines the enduring belief in the American dream among Latin Americans, the challenges of migration, and the realities of life in countries like Argentina. He also provides insights into buying electric vehicles in Latin America, including recommended models and charging solutions.
For more episodes, seminar information, resources, and the full archive, visit ExpatPlanB.com.
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Related guides: Moving to Guatemala · Cost of Living in Latin America · Residency in Latin America · Renting and Buying Property
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Topics
The American dream, Migration to the United States, Perceptions of the American dream among Latin Americans, Social media and its influence on perceptions, Economic conditions in Latin America versus the U.S., Challenges faced by undocumented immigrants in the U.S., Cultural differences in lifestyle and habits between Latin America and the U.S., The impact of inflation and economic instability on migration and perceptions of the American dream, Minimum Wage, Immigration, Property Ownership, Political Landscape in Argentina
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:02:30 The Paradox of the American Dream for Migrants and the Uneducated 00:02:48 The Illusion of the American Dream and the Endless Rainbow 00:03:28 The Understanding of the American Dream Among Educated and Affluent Latin Americans 00:06:49 The Resilience of the American Dream in the Minds of Latinos 00:12:00 The Latino Definition of the American Dream: Minimum Wage Jobs 00:12:42 Reality of the American Dream for Latinos 00:13:25 Implications of Settling for a Latino Version of the American Dream 00:14:10 Plan B for Immigrants: Moving to Argentina 00:15:58 President Malay's Efforts and Political Challenges in Argentina 00:17:48 Cost of Living in Argentina 00:18:08 Isolation from Global Events 00:18:34 Socioeconomic Case Study 00:19:26 Ground Clearance Issues with Electric Vehicles 00:23:02 Recommendations for Electric Vehicles in Latin America 00:23:23 Introduction to EVs in Latin America 00:23:28 Top contenders for EV purchase 00:23:32 Ground clearance and model specifics 00:24:06 Challenges with Tesla ownership in Latin America 00:25:16 Toyota BZ4X warranty and features 00:26:37 Conclusion and recommendations for EV ownership
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller, and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Here's something that Latin Americans just don't get and I wish they would but they never will I'm talking about Latin Americans living in Latin America Right now. Here are the facts of life. They just don't get I'm talking about their delusion about the American dream
[00:46] No matter how many of them get deported back to the states no matter how many of them Returned back to the home country with stories of woe stories of rape robbery even death along the way They still think it's worth it to make the effort to sneak into the United States In fact, it just was in that very discussion with a bunch of Latinos the other day Funny though, how educated Latinos Latinos with advanced degrees. They don't talk much about the American dream Sure, they love to visit the states see New York, New Jersey all the kitschy cringy places You and I would never take a vacation to like Disney World in a tour of Miami's shopping malls In fact more than a few times. I've said to educated Latinos who have visited the states number of times How come you guys never go to the Grand Canyon or Mount Rushmore?
[01:33] Visit Frank Lloyd Wright's falling water Yellowstone Park Nashville Niagara Falls Why do you always keep going back and forth to New York, New Jersey? Disney World my jammy rinse and repeat rinse and repeat rinse and repeat Then you post a million stupid selfies so self-satisfied and brag how you've seen America Though I guess gringos are like that too. They go to Cancun or Costa Rica to Loom Puerto Vallarta And suddenly we're all experts on Mexico and Latin America. So I guess that kind of tunnel vision is in our genes, huh? Anyway, it just drives me nuts that Latin Americans just don't understand The concept that the American dream is dead Completely dead in so many ways. It's technically visually physically and mathematically dead
[02:22] At least from our perspective the average Americans perspective And if it's dead for the average person born bred and raised in the USA How is it possible that it's alive and well for people who come in illegally don't have education a skill and don't even speak English? And even when you try to lay out the dance and stats Latin Americans just give you that deer in the headlight Look, they don't want to hear it. They think there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow Realistically though funny how you never find the end of the rainbow because it keeps moving The odd thing is college educated and upscale Latinos They get it because when they go visit the US on vacation, whatever or on a shopping spree in my jammy They don't bunk up with relatives in a broken-down Brooklyn neighborhood They say at a Sheridan or days in in a nice section of town pay the first world rate of a couple hundred bucks a night
[03:12] So upscaling educated Latinos and know the US is expensive compared to Latin America That is if you want to live like the average born and raised middle-class America So educated and upscale Latinos get it They know there's no such thing as the sueño Americano the American dream though It may have existed in their parents day these days. It's a myth so upscale educated and wealthy Latinos get it But in reality, they're only about one to five percent of the Latin American public They're smart enough to know most of them know English or a bit of English They read the international news feeds and the news feeds coming out from up north They know that even for them middle and upper-class latinos living in Latin America for them They know damn well living up in the states is sort of out of the question
[03:58] Nice place to visit and go on vacation them great bragging rights too for friends and family back home But they'd never stay permanently because they'd have to lower their standard of living Funny thing to every lower middle class and poor latino You meet has a wealthy uncle or cousin they're envious of someone who can go back and forth to the states legally Visiting Nueva York or shopping in my jammy. Whatever. They also have some friends and relatives living up in the states They're super envious of friends and relatives who continuously post selfies all blinged out at restaurants sitting in nice cars giving the false impression to the folks back home that they somehow won the lottery the whole point of the exercise is to make the folks back home jealous It's super effective in perpetuating the idea of the sueño Americano
[04:46] So anyway, your average middle-class Latin American making let's say six to at most ten thousand dollars a year in Salvador Guatemala Panama Brazil up in the states even the working poor make more than that and when the poor or Lower middle-class or even middle-class Latin American hears that the average minimum wage in the US is $11 an hour and in places like Washington State, California, Washington DC, etc. It's The idea of the sueño Americano forever after the idea of the American dream is cast in concrete in their brains And no amount of deaths or stats will dissuade them from thinking that they don't want to hear that US housing Affordability is the worst it's been in more than 30 years
[05:34] They don't want to hear that for the average American guy under 35. The American dream is mathematically out of reach When they hear that US inflation rates are under 10% a year They think it's marvelous because in their country, it's twice or three times that and you know Ever since the US has existed the definition of the American dream is being able to afford your own house, right? But now for the first time in what 50 or so years the ridiculous housing prices have lacked the under 30 crowd Out of the housing market entirely, but Latin Americans don't want to hear that None of that makes a dent in their idea of the American dream They don't want to know and they don't care that inflation and terrible US government regulations have made basic homeownership Impossible by the way, according to the website true inflation from 2020 to 2025
[06:22] The inflation rate in the US has been more than 25% That's government theft by any other name, you know But somehow Latinos dreaming of the American dream don't want to hear about that In fact, they're pretty much immune to inflation figures because in their own countries inflation is a beast That's almost always over 10% a year So for example, if you happen to bring up the fact that inflation in the United States in the year Let's say 2024 was an amazingly destructive 7% They'll think you're nuts for complaining about it to them. It's a gift. It actually strengthens their belief in the American dream For example, if you tell a Latino you got a car loan at 5% his eyes will widen And he just might tell you how great a country you're living in since in his country You can't get a car loan for under 20%
[07:08] That's right 20% I've seen it. So like I said, it's not worth mentioning the stats of the dads Proving the American dream is dead and buried. The basic reason is they set the bar so much lower than we do Oh, and if you happen to drop the fact that the average American household incomes around 60,000 a year for a family of four. Well to your average Latin American living down here That's a phenomenal figure almost unbelievable in Latin America doctors lawyers and engineers. Don't make that kind of money Everyone down here in Latin America knows the average family income for a family of four rarely tops ten grand a year Problem is and Latinos don't want to hear it Actually, it's more like they think you're lying When you mentioned that a family of four up in the states living on 60k a year is definitely struggling. It ain't easy
[07:56] Then when you try to explain it by saying they're at least in a 50% tax bracket That means they bring home only 30 grand a year Well, that's not a very convincing argument either 30k a year is still a fortune for the average Latin American family of four now considering all that The fact that the American dream is dead in the minds of native born American setters Now remember when it comes to native born American citizens 40% of American adults have college degrees three quarters of which are pretty useless But nevertheless and as for the rest the other 60% most of them have viable skills in the marketplace Most importantly they can read write and speak English though in some urban centers. That's debatable Anyway in achieving the American dream the one your parents called the American dream anyway, you know home ownership
[08:48] For native born Americans under 40 that's almost not achievable anymore without the financial assistance of their parents So now let's talk about that estimated 30 million or more illegal Latinos who've arrived with zero Advanced education and zero marketable skill all in search of that. So when you Americano They are not your average American by any means they arrived with no capital no possessions No credit no collateral no home. No papers No English and I know I'm gonna take some crap for this but most of them arrived with no basic hygiene Yep, it's tough to hear that but remember Latin Americans use one quarter of the amount of water daily Then average North Americans do you've heard me talk about this in previous shows where I talked about how to size a water
[09:35] Filtration system. I mentioned the fact that the average American uses a hundred gallons of water a day and the average Latino 25 you can look it up. So just suss that out for a minute That means fewer baths and showers fewer laundry cycles less time spent on oral hygiene Less cleanup around the house and kitchen less rinsing and washing of fruits and vegetables and dishes, etc Those are the habits illegal aliens bring along with them So then with all those disadvantages what possible strategy can an illegal alien have to achieve the American dream? Well, the fact is they don't want to hear the downside because they're always thinking about that minimum wage Where in most US states and ours minimum wage is what you'd get paid for a day's work back in the home country
[10:22] That and the idea of all those US government immigrant freebies You know the story free hotel free food free transportation free healthcare, especially in those sanctuary cities courtesy of the last administration, of course Well, the grapevine down here in Latin America is absolutely saturated with those stories So anyway, even though Trump has really clamped down on the border crossing average Non-college educated Latinos will tell you all you have to do is somehow get to the land of milk and honey And you instantly get on that gravy train known as this when yo Americano. So that's the mindset even with Trump in office It's still the plan B blueprint for every poor and lower-class Latin American. Yep You heard me, right just because the immigration door has been slammed shut
[11:08] That's still on the lips of every poor and lower-class Latin American. I've met sure it's tough getting there But once you get there, you're set Meanwhile, the stats also say that 30% of all adult women Illegal females making that midnight coyote journey are sexually assaulted Yep, the news media here and up in the states reports that 30% of Latin American women are assaulted Yeah, right a nice way of saying rape and other studies report that probably another 30% of rapes go unreported due to shame and Embarrassment. So the question is what it really is the Latino definition of the American dream It's not your mom and dad's definition of middle-class person being able to afford a house The fact is and I've heard this over and over the Latino definition of the American dream is get this
[11:57] landing an unskilled job in the USA for Minimum wage at McDonald's piece of hut Starbucks Most Latinas have heard by hook-and-cook through the grapevine that minimum wage in the US is about what you get paid for a whole Day in their old country. I know I said that before but it's worth repeating So in other words to land a minimum wage job in the US would be like making a fortune in their hometown In some cases equal to a doctor's or lawyer's salary where they come from So the question is how can you square that circle? How can you reason with someone who thinks that way? You can't because even those Latinos who report they have achieved that so-called American dream the ones that post selfies with their cars and bling for the folks back home to drool over the vast vast majority of those so Called Latinos who have made it are really not even making the average US middle-class family income of 50 to 60 thousand bucks a year
[12:50] And they don't own a house. They rent we native-born Americans No for a family of four on 50 or 60 grand a year. You're not living a good life So as far as this American dream thing, which has been dead in the water for a while now We know that pre-covid it anyway, if there's a takeaway from this little rant today It's that you're in my definition of the American dream is completely different from the American dream envisioned by Middle and lower middle-class Latinos. They have it all wrong, but they just don't want to hear it Here's the problem if all us native-born American Settled for that minimum wage Latino version of the American dream. The US would be just slightly better off than a third world country Problem is under Biden. We were on that train going down the track at full throttle under Trump
[13:40] It's half throttle, but we're still gonna get there. Okay moving on. Let's take this email from mr. P F He says my wife and I are still in the preparation phases of getting our plan B together We are still looking south and my wife says once she gets her degrees and a US passport She is out of the USA at least part of the time. So we are aligned on that issue there He says for my wife. Anyway, the USA has not been what she thought it would be She's a recent immigrant to the USA from the Middle East Anyhow Johnny, we know Argentina is not on the top of your list for a plan B move though President Malay seems to be getting things done though and changing things for the better on that note He says we have found and are in touch with some developments in northern Patagonia, which you could say are way off the gringo trail
[14:29] None of the residents at that location except maybe one or two are from the US except two or three are Argentine couples who live part-time in the US and part-time in Argentina He says the climate from what I can see is similar to where I was raised in the inner mountain west of the US So we're planning a boots on the ground trip to Argentina the first quarter of next year on the property front He says we are creating a SA corporation in Guatemala in order to purchase property in another country with it Guatemalan lawyer Jose said it's completely legal from the Guatemala side of things But other developers and other countries may or may not allow it. Alright, let me stop there for a second me Johnny here Just last week. I was talking to a gringo going through that very situation
[15:15] He said he tried to buy a property in the Dominican Republic with a Guatemalan SA corporation They wouldn't allow it but there was a workaround turns out It's perfectly legal for his Guatemalan SA corporation to be the owner of a Dominican Republic SA corporation Which could then purchase that property? Talk about a double layer of insulation and protection, huh? Sure, it costs a little more probably an extra 500 bucks to set up that second SA corporation, but it can be done There are always workarounds. This is Latin America You know where rules and norms are super flexible and bent to the absolute limit. All right, mr. P Let's talk about Argentina for a second again. It's not that I don't recommend Argentina for a plan B I really do I think Malay is doing almost all the right and necessary thing
[16:02] The problem is most of the people there are died in the wool Socialists who absolutely love getting freebies. They've been weaned on that for the last 50 years problem It's just recently Malay had a setback with his party in Buenos Aires a capital losing by a landslide to the leftist leaning actually socialist leading Peronist opposition so, you know when you lose seats in the legislature like that That means your policies president Malay's policies when put up for a vote will lose just not enough supporters on his side So obviously the people there aren't liking the medicine Malay is feeding them even though the patient is getting better So pretty much everything rests on his shoulders if something were to happen to Malay or he loses more congressional seats in Congress Seems like all the progress he's made already will backslide the country into what it was and I'm not saying that's gonna happen
[16:52] I hope it doesn't but as for a plan B. Yeah, I wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket. Not just yet Because you know the Peronists the socialists are now the largest block and Argentina's fragmented Congress and have used their numbers to pass social spending measures That are testing Malay's efforts to balance the Argentine budget, you know they've been in power for the last 50 or so years and Responsible for turning the country into a basket case problem is once again The voters are addicted to government freebies as one Argentine business guy told me when I was there last year Before Malay was elected. Everyone wanted a government job Fantastic benefits retirement vacations sick days. He told me there were more people working for government than in the private sector Amazingly terrible system and to get anything done in Argentina the bureaucracy red tape and just plain inefficiency was mind-numbing
[17:41] That's just the way it was and people accepted it even though they watched as it slowly but surely impoverished them And I'm sure as you've noticed mr. P You've been to Argentina things are just as expensive as they are up in the States even more in some case part of a dude to the Covid it crap and Partially due to Malay's elimination of subsidies But then again drastic measures were needed to save the patient and he isn't by any measure out of the woods yet So if you move to Argentina, you definitely aren't gonna be living on the cheap But you will be almost completely isolated from world events like what's happening up in the States or in Middle East Russia Ukraine and believe me Argentina's got almost none of those terrible immigration problems the US, Canada The UK and Western Europe are facing. Anyway, Argentina is a country to keep your eye on I'll be returning shortly myself
[18:29] It's been about a year now for me time to get boots on the ground once again and check how it's shaken out What an interesting socioeconomic case study though, huh? Meanwhile referring back to mr. PFC email. He says Johnny We just purchased a 2026 Tesla Model Y our building has free electrical hookup So directly we aren't paying for electricity at all free mileage. You gotta love it I think you would be impressed with the ride But as you say a non Cybertruck Tesla are not built for day-to-day driving south of the border However with all the tech there's a lot of monitoring by Tesla some of which you can shut off though It is hackable. I'm sure it is but probably less than say from a BMW Have a good one. Mr. P. F Okay, mr. P. F. I'm glad you mentioned that Tesla Model Y
[19:17] 2026 at this very point in time. I'm in the market for an electric car right now I've done so much research checked out lots of them did some test rides And I have to say Tesla beats them all except for one thing and it really is a fatal flaw ground clearance Yeah here in Latin America They've got those two milos, you know big strips of concrete or asphalt across the road specifically to slow down traffic They're everywhere and often unmarked or simply unmarked because cars have bottomed out on them so much The paint has been completely scraped up many a lowrider and the standard sedan and of course all sub compacts like for example a Kia Picanto mini Cooper's etc they've got all come to nearly a complete stop and gingerly pass over those speed bumps or do damage to the car in fact some of those speed bumps are so tall a
[20:07] Standard sedan or a mini compact can't even negotiate the thing straight on they have to swing around into the other lane and take the thing on a diagonal with one wheel at a time going over the Hump or they'll bottom out and if you scrape the bottom of your chassis enough times eventually that will be the kiss of death So anyway after 30 some years of negotiating those things I've done a lot of measurements and a lot of calculating and I've discovered that if you have a ground clearance of at least 7 inches you probably never bottom out on one of those things unless you take them way too fast You don't want to do that. For example most Honda CR-Vs, RAV4s, Toyota 4-runners, Hyundai Tucson's and Santa Fe's and many gas powered SUVs have 7 inches or more as their ground clearance So they clear those two milos just fine
[20:53] But I found out with electric cars even electric SUVs most of them are quite low to the ground Unfortunately only five or six inches now for as much as I really like the Tesla 2026 model Y It's got a ground clearance of only six point six inches. So for me that could be cutting it way too close I hate to say it too because it's got Tesla's full self-driving Capabilities pretty much a robo taxi if you want to use it that way by the way the Tesla 2026 model S has even a lower ground clearance of six point two inches Not good and forget the 2026 Tesla Model 3 road clearance 5.5 inches by the way, you need extra ground clearance in Latin America Not just because of those speed bumps But because of those lakes that form at many intersections in the rainy season with a heavy downpour
[21:39] Sometimes they're completely underwater for an hour or two now of course I'm talking about my preferences after driving down here many many many tens of thousands of miles You might not care about ground clearance. Lots of Latin Americans certainly don't I see Latinos driving low riders all the time I don't get it especially when they screw around with the suspension on purpose to get it really low. That's nuts They certainly suffer for what they think is being cool. Oh and wealthy Latins really love their sports cars, too I remember telling you about Helping and interpreting for a gringle lady looking to buy a penthouse apartment and when the owner came into the parking lot He drove up in a black Porsche 911 about two inches from the ground What an idiot my first thought was he must be the president of the micro penis club Because only a fool with money and low self-esteem
[22:26] Would drive a Porsche or Corvette or any kind of sports car like that in Latin America, but you do see him down here every day So what about other electric vehicles here in Latin America? Well, the thing is you see lots and lots of electric cars every day lots of Chinese models that look like Kia and Toyota clones I wouldn't trust any of them except maybe the BYD their SUVs are getting some very good reports lately and they're Very inexpensive to compared to Tesla with three SUV models with a road clearance of over seven inches So then would I recommend or buy one of these Chinese BYD electric vehicles? Well, if I was really really on a budget BYD would be the only Chinese made electric car I would consider why because it's number one in sales worldwide has
[23:12] Thousands of dealers has been around for ten or so years has its own battery division with a very profitable electric bus division, too If you keep your eyes open, you'll see there are electric buses Public and private all over the world with that BYD logo on them for me There are three contenders if you're looking to buy an EV in Latin America I'd basically narrow it down to the following three the 2026 Kia EV 9 which has a ground clearance of 7.8 inches very good the 2026 Hyundai ionic 9 has a ground clearance of 7 inches That'll just about pass muster and finally something you may have not even heard about are considered a 2026 Toyota BZ4x remember I'm talking about 2026 models here. That's a Toyota SUV with
[24:00] 8.1 to 8.3 inches of ground clearance depending on the trim set which is very very good Now I have to admit even if Tesla had a vehicle with ground clearance of 8 inches or more I still might suggest going with the Toyota or Hyundai or Kia Why because with Toyota Kia and Hyundai you'll be buying them from dealerships right here in Latin America So you'll have a place to take them if they need fixing or adjustment or warranty work Or as you probably know Tesla doesn't have regular dealers And I've asked around here in Latin America at some of the big city dealerships. I've asked the mechanic What happens if you have a Tesla and a crash and you need some bodywork done or the sensors replaced or you name it? We're talking about an electric car here. Those things are very special regular mechanics. Don't know a thing about them
[24:48] Well, that's the problem you see of course. There will be a few select mechanics that will say they're able to handle Tesla But what about Tesla warranty stuff look? I really like Tesla and if I lived in the states I had own one but down here in Latin America I'd really have to do a deep dive and investigate who's available locally to fix those things The other thing is if there's only a handful of shops doing that kind of work How long do you want your car to be out of commission and how do you know? You're not getting hosed on the price because they're the only game in town. By the way I just checked out that new 2026 Toyota BZ4X model. I'm looking at the warranty on the battery It's covered for eight years or two hundred thousand miles They guarantee at the end of that time the battery will hold 70% of charge on top of that There's a three-year 36,000 mile basic warranty a five-year
[25:34] 60,000 mile powertrain warranty and an eight-year hundred thousand mile warranty on all electronics including the battery But here's the real cool thing. They're giving you 25,000 miles of complimentary maintenance free Three years of 24-hour roadside assistant with unlimited mileage and free electric charge-ups for an entire year Now the other two EVs in the running I mentioned before the Kia and the Hyundai They have nearly the same very good warranty, but you don't get a free year of charging like Toyota now Of course, there are lots of other electric EVs on the market like Volvo and Honda mini Cooper Ford Volkswagen Chevrolet every car company has an EV or two or three There are real high-end expensive ones to like Mercedes BMW Porsche But if you look at the car and driver and consumer report evaluations on the net
[26:24] Most of them don't stack up very well to Tesla Toyota Kia and Hyundai Besides that most of the others aren't selling very well either Which means that any time in the future you might have an orphan on your hands Definitely not what you want, especially if you're living here in Latin America So if you're looking to buy an EV here in Latin America You're looking at a completely different set of circumstances than buying one up in the States You might be thinking lack of charge stations, right? Well, you'd be wrong They're everywhere in the medium in large cities that is but on those long long stretches of road between big city You better get yourself an EV that's got at least a 400 kilometer range. That'd be minimum 260 mile range I'd say having electric car down here is the way to go Especially since the price of gas here in Latin America ranges between four and six bucks a gallon
[27:11] Guaranteed to go up from there and all you'll need is really ten solar panels and a small inverter And you could charge your car battery from zero to a hundred percent and probably nine or ten hours free And that whole solar charging setup won't cost you more than three or four grand Now if you're looking for a do-it-yourself system, that'll do that send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And I'll send you the plans You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B We can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in Central America Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com