Evergo adds a resort to charging network, mulls apartment complexes
Published:Sunday | February 20, 2022 | 12:08 AMKarena Bennett - Business Reporter
Evergo Jamaica is roughly half-way through phase one of its electric vehicle charging station buildout, with the latest installation located at the Texaco Ironshore gas station in Montego Bay.
Another at the Jamaica Inn resort in Ocho Rios, St Ann, is to be commissioned this week, marking the first hotel property in its network.
The company has remained consistent in its strategy of installing charging stations at ‘destination’ spots – where people spend long hours for business or pleasure – but phase two of its rollout could see Evergo installing its charging stations in apartment complexes.
To date, the company has rolled out 21 charging stations, 27 are under construction and 12 are awaiting connections. The single Level 3 charging station in its network was commissioned at Evergo’s office in Kingston, whereas the others, all Level 2 chargers, have been deployed throughout all but three parishes, the exceptions being Clarendon, St Thomas, and Portland.
Depending on the electric vehicle, a Level 3 station can charge a vehicle in 120 minutes or one and a half hours, while the Level 2 can provide full charge within three hours.
“The strategy is to place them in spots where someone will have an extended wait. So far, we have partnered with Texaco to have some at their service stations. We are also partnering with restaurants, banks, entertainment spots, anywhere that persons will stay for an extended time. Jamaica Inn will be our first hotel,” said CEO of Evergo Jamaica Wayne McKenzie.
“Moving forward, we want to have charging stations in the gated complexes,” he added.
The Ironshore charging station was officially commissioned on February 11, and the Jamaica Inn unit will be launched on Thursday, February 24.
Evergo is rolling out 300 EV charging stations in two phases, at a cost of US$1 million, the second of which is expected to begin this summer.
“We expect to deploy another nine Level 3 chargers, and what we want to do is put them at a radius of about 150 kilometres from each other so that persons have access to charging no matter how long the journey is,” McKenzie said.
Not many persons own electric vehicles in Jamaica, but different sides of the trade are banking on each other to generate consumer interest.
The providers of infrastructure are investing on the basis that the volumes of EV autos will eventually grow, and with it the number of prospective customers. Auto dealers, meanwhile, are banking on the charging infrastructure being in place, making it easier for them to pitch the vehicles to prospective buyers; but they’re also lobbying the government to offer concessions on import duties to make EVs more affordable.
Initially, fewer than 10 motorists in total were using the charging stations installed by Evergo, McKenzie said, but now they’re getting business from the 58 full EVs on Jamaica’s roads, as well as plug-ins. The company expects business to pick-up substantially by 2023 as auto dealers ramp up the importation of full electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles.
Jetcon, ATL Automotive, and Stewart Automotive are three of the dealers that already have full EV or plug-in hybrids on the market. The two larger dealers, ATL Automotive and Stewart Automotive, are installing private stations to support its shift towards EVs in their portfolios. Business lifestyle hotel AC Marriott in Kingston, which is headed by ATL Group/Sandals Resorts Executive Chairman, Adam Stewart, was among the first to do trials.
“We are seeing usage of the stations now, not anything to write home about, but what it does is make the dealers feel comfortable to import these vehicles because they know there is a charging network to support it,” McKenzie said. “It’s not a matter of electric mobility, it is going to be here. The question is when.”
The global movement towards EVs is expected to gain momentum this year, with projections of full switchovers, within 15 years for some, and beyond.
As the movement towards EVs begins to pick up pace among private businesses, the Government of Jamaica, in line with its pro-EV policy, is looking to add 45 electric buses to the state-run JUTC fleet. It expects 12 per cent of the public-transportation fleet to be electric vehicles by 2030.