Sat | Dec 21, 2024

Costs hampering installation of EV chargers

Stakeholders eye home-chargers as real-estate developers want new complexes EV-ready

Published:Friday | September 6, 2024 | 9:56 AMNeville Graham - Senior Business Reporter
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Rudolph Brown
Rudolph Brown/photographer From left: Dionne Nugent, director, business development, Jamaica Public Service; Danehue Collash, director, Plug In Jamaica; Nikkolai Cowan, secretary, Jamaica Electric Vehicle Association; Brian Richardson, chief technical director, Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport; Dr Wayne McKenzie, OD, president & CEO, Evergo Jamaica; and Christina Taylor, group marketing manager, ATL Automotive Group at the Evergo Jamaica’s eMobility Forum at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday.
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Three critical factors related to power distribution, grid infrastructure and tariffs are standing in the way of efforts to deploy the chargers in support of Jamaica’s adoption of electronic vehicle, EV, technology.
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Wayne McKenzie, president and CEO of Evergo, at one of his company’s EV charging station.
Real estate developers are requesting EV chargers to be installed in their new apartment complexes.
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eMobility company, Evergo, is dialling back on its plans for the deployment of up to 300 EV chargers across Jamaica.

CEO Wayne McKenzie said three critical factors related to power distribution, grid infrastructure and tariffs are standing in the way of efforts to deploy the chargers in support of Jamaica's adoption of electronic vehicle (EV), technology.

McKenzie said his company is concerned about the integrity of the power grid and overall reliability, especially on the southern side of the island, particularly parishes, such as Manchester and St Elizabeth.

Speaking at an eMobility forum put on by Evergo on Wednesday, McKenzie said a lot more could be done to build out the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) network to make it easier for companies like Evergo to install chargers that would facilitate customers who sometimes suffer so-called range anxiety in using their EVs. Customers, he noted, try to cover longer distances in the hope that they will be able to recharge their vehicles along the way, at working chargers that are compatible with their EV.

“We have to be building out the distribution network as we're putting in the chargers. By doing that, it's costing us four times more than if we were just putting in the chargers. We have to be putting in poles, we have to be putting in lines, we have to be putting in transformers,” McKenzie said, suggesting that JPS could consider instituting a special tariff that would make it more feasible to put in more chargers.

Also speaking at the forum was Director of Business Development at JPS, Dionne Nugent. She agreed with McKenzie that a lot more resilience could be built into the national power grid to withstand fluctuations in demand and usage growth over time. She said, especially since the passage of Hurricane Beryl, the light and power company has re-doubled its efforts to do the necessary upgrades.

COMMITTED TO INSTALLING ABOUT 300 CHARGERS

Speaking to The Financial Gleaner on the sidelines of the forum, McKenzie said Evergo had committed to installing about 300 chargers in three years, beginning in 2020. However, he noted that the lack of adequate infrastructure has been a real pain point for his company, in that they are faced with costs that render the installation of new chargers prohibitive, forcing Evergo to change their plans.

“That has caused our charges to go up by more than 300 per cent; so there is no way that we can put down as much as 300 chargers. Our implementation strategy has shifted to installing more Level 3 chargers and then we work with the dealers to ensure that they bring in cars that are compatible with those chargers,” McKenzie told The Financial Gleaner, noting that additional expenditure to do upgrades ranges between $2 million and $5 million per installation.

HOME CHARGERS

McKenzie said that in line with a shift in strategy, since January, his company has been receiving many requests from real estate developers to install chargers in their new apartment complexes.

“They're coming to us with two options. One, to put chargers in common areas; and, two, those with townhouses want to install home chargers,” McKenzie said, adding that developers want to promote their complexes as EV ready.

He said this has caused Evergo to look more kindly on the provision of home chargers that have a capacity of about 20-kilowatt, while choosing to deploy less public chargers that are more powerful with a capacity in excess of 150kw. Higher capacity chargers are capable of charging EVs faster.

“What we're doing is that as soon as those developers are ready, we will procure the chargers to put them in,” he said.

There are presently about 270 EVs in Jamaica, not counting hybrids, according to Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Brian Richardson. This is up from 26 in 2020.

He said Government's present policy framework has a target of 16 per cent of all government vehicles being EVs, while up to 12 per cent of private sector vehicles should be EVs.

Richardson noted that the rate of adoption and interest for the immediate future are satisfactory.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com