By Alien Fernandez

HAVANA, July 18 (Reuters) - Havana is famed for the

colorful vintage cars that can still be seen puttering around

its streets and are a popular subject for visitors' photographs.

But these days, Cubans are just as likely to be found

getting around quickly and quietly on electric scooters made

with Chinese parts.

"Electric motorcycles are solving a lot of problems in Cuba,

they are already used for almost everything," explains Omar

Cortina, a Cuban hotel worker who recently purchased his first

electric vehicle - a lime-green scooter powered by a lithium

battery.

Until recently, Cuba's roads had changed little in the six

decades since former leader Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution: the

old cars puffing sooty exhaust, rutted pavement, light traffic.

Now, electric vehicles are proving a godsend for many in the

communist-run nation.

Between 2020 and 2022, the last year for which figures

are available, Cuba-based companies produced more than 23,000

electric vehicles, according to official data. Since then,

demand has grown, alongside an economic crisis that has slashed

both fuel supply and public transportation.

Fuel for combustion-powered engines has for years been

scarce in Cuba - prompting hours-long or sometimes days-long

queues. And a five-fold price hike earlier this year means a

typical 40-liter tank of gas costs more than a state-worker's

average monthly wage, far out of reach for most.

Public transportation is hardly more palatable.

Buses in the Havana area are far fewer - and more crowded

and uncomfortable - than in previous years. And half the routes

to points outside the capital have been eliminated this year,

according to state-run media, as fuel and spare parts dwindle.

Those dire circumstances have helped drive demand for the

products of newly formed companies like Caribbean Electric

Vehicles (Vedca), said company director Julio Oscar Perez.

The firm, a joint venture between Chinese investor Tianjin

Dongxing Industrial and Cuban state bicycle manufacturer

Minerva, has produced more than 2,000 scooters, bikes and

mini-tricycle trucks in Cuba with Chinese parts.

"I think we're reaching a tipping point," Perez said in an

interview.

"That is, not just seeing (electric vehicles) as an

alternative to mobility, but also (solving) other problems that

exist because of fuel limitations."

On a recent weekday visit to the company's plant outside

Havana, some of Vedca's 64 employees assembled plastic parts,

soldered wires, and tightened bolts in an orderly assembly line,

while others greeted customers arriving for pick-up.

The company, Perez said, has also begun testing a new

electric tractor and experimenting with other electric-powered

heavy machinery.

Other small domestic companies sell electric bikes,

ranging from makeshift to upscale. And the government recently

authorized imports of far pricier electric vehicles - including

Teslas - though few in Cuba can afford such luxuries.

For Cortina, just being able to get back and forth from work

is enough of a selling-point.

"In a few years, all transportation will be electric," he

predicted before zooming off on his new purchase.