JPS, the island’s energy company, has announced the launch of phase one of its initiative to replace vehicles in its fleet, with electric vehicles. Phase one will see 40 vehicles being replaced in the near term, as they come to end of use.
The initiative officially commenced with the first six vehicles being handed over at last week’s kick-off ceremony at the JPS head office. They will be used in field services and other operations. The vehicles are being deployed to teams at the New Kingston head office, the Bogue Operations in St James, as well as the Ruthven Road customer service office and the LDC Spanish Town Road operations, in St. Andrew.
Elaborating on the types of vehicles involved in the replacement programme, JPS’ director of asset optimisation and project management office, Orlando McKoy, explained that “the company is focusing on pick-ups, panel vans and eventually major specialised equipment”.
PERFORMANCE DATA GATHERING
In addition to commencing the electrification of the company’s vehicle fleet, some of the first set of deployed vehicles will also be part of a data-gathering project by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The project’s objective is to gather information to assess the performance of the vehicles in the Jamaican context, in terms of cost, maintenance and overall experience. This first of its kind project in Jamaica is being led and managed by a consortium of companies, including project principal Xergy Energy, Cadmus Consulting, JAMECO, Stewarts Auto Group, and the suppliers of the BYD Electric Vehicles and ABB Charging stations used in the project, Flash Motors.
Xavier Gordon, CEO of Flash Motors, noted that the findings would help to create a business case for public and private sector organisations seeking to add to or convert their fleets to electric-powered vehicles. “That way, other businesses can benefit from the information,” he pointed out. He also reminded the group that electric vehicles are now easier to acquire as of June 2022, when the Government of Jamaica reduced the import duty from 35 per cent plus GCT to 10 per cent non-taxable.
“This is a significant development which makes the market more attractive to Jamaicans,” he said, adding that, “electric vehicles, while more expensive to acquire, can save up to 50 per cent on fuel costs in the long term.”
“JPS is pleased to be leading this energy revolution in Jamaica,” McKoy stated, “And the performance data-gathering exercise is an excellent opportunity to identify the best strategy for fleet replacement,” he shared.
