Public Policy and Legal Governance of Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Commercialization in Colombia: Energy Transition Challenges Towards a Competitive and Sustainable Market

The commercialization of electric and hybrid vehicles in Colombia is a strategic component of the national energy-transition agenda and of the country’s climate-governance commitments. However, despite relevant regulatory progress, market deployment remains territorially uneven and institutionally fragmented. The article describes how regulation affects the market for electric and hybrid cars, considering regulatory consistency, inter-institutional cooperation, market obstacles, and the rollout of the energy transition. Based on doctrinal legal analysis, comparative public-policy evaluation, and contextual examination of official vehicle-registration information, the study employs a qualitative and comparative research design. The analysis reviews Colombian legal instruments, policy strategies, and governance arrangements related to electric mobility and compares them with selected experiences in Chile and Mexico. The findings show Colombia has developed tariff reductions, tax benefits, circulation privileges, charging-infrastructure obligations, interoperability rules, and strategic planning instruments. Commercialization faces structural barriers: fragmented regulation, uneven territorial implementation, insufficient charging infrastructure, weak public–private coordination, limited consumer awareness, and a lack of long-term governance for battery replacement and industrial adaptation. The results also show that hybrid electric vehicles dominate national registrations, while battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles remain comparatively limited. This distinction shows that Colombia’s current transition is still more strongly associated with hybridization than with full electrification. The article concludes that Colombia requires a more coherent governance architecture capable of integrating regulatory stability, territorial coordination, infrastructure deployment, market facilitation, and long-term energy-transition planning.