On the Road: Let’s talk about electric cars

Barbadians have become familiar with electric cars, as they have been on the road in Barbados for 7 years, thanks to early adopters, technophile consumers, and Megapower Ltd. They look just like any other car, except that they are silent, powerful, and quick.

Megapower Ltd. is a specialist Electric Vehicle Garage in Barbados, focusing on promoting the uptake of electric vehicles powered by renewable sources (www.megapower365.com).

Electric vehicle benefits include zero tailpipe emissions, better efficiency than internal combustion engine vehicles, and large potential for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

In 2019, electric vehicles in operation globally avoided the consumption of almost 0.6 million barrels of oil products per day. The electricity generation to supply the global electric vehicle fleet emitted 51 Mt CO2-eq, about half the amount that would have been emitted from an equivalent fleet of internal combustion engine vehicles, corresponding to 53 Mt CO2- eq of avoided emissions.

On a small island susceptible to impacts of climate change, these should be important to all of us.

So let’s look at what driving an EV in Barbados means – how close we are to achieving zero-emission driving and what it costs:

1. EVs are significantly more efficient than ICE engines. ICE engines are 40 per cent efficient. Electric vehicles do have some energy losses, but factor in the regenerative braking function, and they able to achieve 86-90 per cent efficiency. That means for every $100 consumers pay, gas car drivers lose $60 to heat, noise and friction, while EV owners only say goodbye to $10.
2. Megapower has constructed large solar installations across Barbados to offset the diesel-generated electricity used by the owners.
3. Most importantly, Barbados Light & Power and Emera have a structured plan to move towards 100 per cent renewable energy in the next 10 years. Their goal is heavy but when, not if they achieve it, EVs in Barbados will be completely powered by renewable with not just zero-emission driving, but zero-emission generation.

Here is the great news: Automakers have announced a diversified menu of electric cars, many of which are expected in 2020 or 2021. For the next five years, automakers have announced plans to release another 200 new electric car models, many of which are the increasingly popular SUV. It’s not just about driving an electric car, it’s now about driving your first choice in a car, that is also electric.

AND with more options also comes larger batteries for increased driving range. Standard EV battery capacities are now 40kWh which equates to around 250KM of driving. On our island, that’s a lot! To be specific, that’s driving from Oistins to Animal Flower Cave (and back) twice.

There are now 33 electric buses in Barbados – the largest per capita fleet in the region, and a bright future as well, which looks to a growing electric bus fleet and retiring of the oil diesel buses, which are aged and inefficient, even by ICE standards.

Commercially, there is also potential for EV uptake! Heavy-duty trucks ranging from cab and chassis combos to sanitation solutions and trackers, are now becoming readily available and proving to be offering the same carrying, towing, and operation capacity of their diesel competitors. The initial investment is significant, but with 90 per cent fewer moving components, these vehicles require less maintenance, have fewer components to be damaged, offering a more profitable option with a lower overall cost of ownership.