Electric cars have arrived! |05 June 2017

100% electric vehicles (EVs) have been talked about for many years as the future of transportation. They are now becoming more mainstream, and finally can also be seen driving around Seychelles.

So has the future arrived?

Globally, the governments of more and more countries are encouraging the move from fuel-powered cars with their tailpipe emissions, to clean technology, full electric cars. They provide incentives to encourage this shift, and they do this for environmental, health, economic and strategic reasons. The top countries adopting EV according to December 2016 statistics are China, USA, Japan, Norway and Netherlands, along with several other European countries like United Kingdom, France and Germany. The country with the highest penetration of EVs is Norway. Last year 30% of all new cars registered there were EVs!

In Seychelles, our environment is our number one national asset. Seychelles actively seeks sustainable development without degrading the environment. It encourages adoption of electric cars by having dropped the duty to 0%, and also encourages adoption of home solar panel (PV) installations by providing subsidies and rebates. In many ways, the 100 % electric vehicles (EV) are near perfect for the particular conditions of Seychelles.

During an evening’s ‘e-motion’ event organised recently by PMC Auto and Sun Motors, to familiarise the public with features of electric vehicles, the more familiar Nissan LEAF and the new Hyundai IONIQ were introduced. Both models are 100% EV as compared to other vehicles which can be classed as internal combustion engine (ICE), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) where the battery is re-charged by a fuel engine and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) where the battery can be re-charged by the petrol engine or by plugging into an electrical source.

The presentation led by the commercial director of PMC group Jayant Mayadas addressed common perceptions and concerns about EVs. He provided facts and trends and relevant information about electric cars in general. Common worries such as running out of battery charge while on the road, or whether it will be powerful enough to climb a steep hill, affordability, and maintenance costs were addressed and clarified.

Mr Mayadas explained that for example, a fully charged battery in a Nissan LEAF gives about 150km driving range, and the Hyundai IONIQ gives about 220km on a single charge. These range figures are based on local conditions, and with aircon running. Compared to that range available, the average daily driving distance locally is estimated at around 33km (or 1,000km per month), and so the chances of running out of charge before getting home to re-charge are almost nil, for most people. The cars in any case have an emergency charger in the boot, and eventually some public charging infrastructure will emerge to be placed in public parking areas. Besides, electric cars have high and instant torque, and this makes driving uphill easy, smooth and powerful, and the acceleration is instantaneous.

Few moving parts

With few moving parts, no engine, no gearbox, no radiator, no tailpipe, no filters and no oil changes there is hardly any maintenance. Big savings on monthly fuel costs can be enjoyed from the first month of ownership, and the car can very conveniently be charged at home. One can in fact drive for free if a solar panel (PV) system is installed at your home.

The EV car will literally be “powered by sunshine.” There are no tail pipe emission, and no noise pollution either as the car runs silently. The cars are packed with features, sensors, reverse camera and even a hands-free cell phone charging dock in the Hyundai IONIQ.

There are over 240,000 Nissan Leafs on the roads globally as of end-2016. It is the largest selling electric car model in history.

The Hyundai IONIQ is new, just introduced in 2016 but it comes backed by the Hyundai brand loyalty and customer experience which has made Hyundai the most popular car brand in Seychelles for the fifth year running.

In the presentation, some early pioneering EV customers in Seychelles were recognised as Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), and Mamma Mia who in fact have bought a fleet of EVs, and also several other forward thinking individuals who decided on an EV for their own smart reasons.

During the ceremony a brand new Hyundai IONIQ was handed over to customer Claude Mondon who said this is his third Hyundai car but first electric car.

He said “another advantage which I was happy to find out about was when I went to pay for my road tax license, the employee there looked at the paper and said your car is zero CC, so you pay just the minimum road tax”. 

Seychelles NATION also talked to other EV customers present to learn of their views and experiences.

Mladen Radev said the range of his Nissan LEAF is completely enough to cover his needs while he is in Seychelles. “I don’t think someone will run out of battery before they reach home on such a small island, and I got to purchase a vehicle at full value for my money instead of paying high government taxes. The maintenance cost is also very low and the cost for my PUC bill is low compared to the fuel I had to pay for earlier,” he said.

The first LEAF owner on Praslin, Percy Vidot said his car can last two days without any battery charge top up. “I was on my way to Mahe on the ferry when I saw the ad on a local newspaper and I went straight down to the office to purchase the car,” he said.

One of the Mamma Mia directors ‒ Paolo Chionni ‒ said they decided for the company to go green in various ways and driving cars of zero emission is part of this initiative. “In the following months we will also implement a PV system to rely completely on the sun for our power and soon we might be buying two new electric cars,” he added.

Evita Auguste, who received a pink Nissan Leaf late September from her dad Elvis Auguste, said she was worried about the electric car before but now she admits that the driving experience is really good.

“I was driving a combustion engine car before this and this is by far the best driving experience in terms of the car that I’ve driven. It’s really efficient as I’ve never had the problem of running out of power,” she said.

Her father, Elvis Auguste, said he researched on the car before purchasing it and found that it is perfect for Seychelles. “We even got the chance to test drive the car for a week and we immediately fell in love with it. The fact that our monthly electric bill went up to about R400 is nothing compared to fuel bills we were paying every week before” he said.

Pauline Hall has owned her LEAF for about a year said she is pleased that the car is well tested around the world. “When it first came out in 2010, they had a number of issues but they have fixed them and added better specifications over the years, which I now enjoy,” she said.

Jourdanne Immer said she hesitated at first as it is an electric car and might not be powerful enough as she is used to pickup trucks, but now she absolutely loves the car. “It’s a nice car, very comfortable and I tested its power on the highway at 150km. It just flows,” she said.

George Camille said “after owning and driving the car for 9 months you cannot tell the difference between driving an electric car and a petrol car, apart from the sound. Aside from that, it has the same amount of power, it can go uphill, it can go above the speed limit, it has plenty of room and more comfort,” he said.

For anyone looking for more information on these EVs, they can contact PMC Auto or Sun Motors or check the websites www.hyundai.sc or www.nissanseychelles.com

The accompanying photos taken by Jude Morel show some of the cars on display.

R. H.