When Peruvian green energy entrepreneur Luis Zwiebach wanted to buy an electric vehicle in 2019, he flew 4,000 miles to California to test drive Tesla¡¯s Model 3 sedan. But Tesla lacked an official importer, and he couldn¡¯t find a way around Peru¡¯s complex vehicle import procedures.

He was not deterred. ¡°There was a gentleman who had already imported one and wanted to sell it,¡± Zwiebach said. ¡°So I went to see it, and I bought it.¡±

Charging the Tesla initially proved difficult at his friend¡¯s beach house outside Lima. ¡°The car wouldn¡¯t charge because there was no grounding device,¡± he said. ¡°We grabbed a fork, stuck it into the soil to make a ground ¡ª and the car charged.¡±