The Tribune

• But 133% year-over-year jump based on just 77 sales

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas was yesterday said to have exceeded last year’s electric vehicle sales in the first nine months of 2021, having produced the world’s eighth largest year-over-year increase during COVID-19’s peak.

John Bain, managing partner at UHY Bain & Associates, the Bahamian affiliate in the global accounting network that analysed 2020 electric vehicle sales worldwide, told Tribune Business that local market performance had continued to build upon last year’s 133 percent upswing.

UHY’s research showed The Bahamas enjoyed the eighth largest year-over-year electric vehicle sales increase in the world, bettered only by Vietnam, the global leader, and the likes of Italy, Germany, the UK, Israel, France and Denmark.

While acknowledging that The Bahamas was starting from small beginnings, given that just 77 electric vehicles were sold in this nation during 2020 compared to 33 the year before, Mr Bain said momentum had continued to build in the local market throughout 2021.

“Ever since 2020 we’ve gone up on selling vehicles,” he told this newspaper. “We’ve done better this year than last year. Despite the pandemic we’ve done better. We sold 77 cars last year, and this year we have sold over 100 so far and the year is not over.”

Mr Bain suggested that the data compiled by his firm likely underestimated the extent to which electric vehicles were present in The Bahamas, as it was based solely on statistics provided by local auto dealers. He added that it did not include electric vehicles imported directly by individuals and companies, “so there are probably a lot more” on local roads.

The UHY Bain & Associates chief predicted that electric vehicle sales in The Bahamas will only continue to increase, given Bahamian tendencies to “follow the US, especially Florida”. However, he argued that there were several tax policy changes and other incentives that the Government could use to drive reforms that directly impact this nation’s carbon emissions and efforts to mitigate climate change.

“There are several problems with the electric cars in The Bahamas,” Mr Bain told Tribune Business. “There’s a structural problem in having sufficient places and stations to charge your car. We have to deal with that.

“We still have a tax on chargers. When you charge your car they have a high tax on chargers, speed chargers. It’s 45 percent [import duty] on that. The tax on the vehicles is 10 percent. The Government can do a lot by the adjustment of taxation” on critical components that accompany electric autos.

Mr Bain also called for the Government to take the lead, and set the example, given that it has the largest vehicle fleet in The Bahamas. Arguing that the Government’s fuel cost savings could be substantial, he said committing to make just a percentage of its vehicle fleet electric powered would show the Prime Minister was serious about the climate change issues identified in his recent United Nations (UN) speech.

“We could demonstrate our commitment to that by targeting the low-hanging fruit,” Mr Bain explained. “They switch the Government’s fleet to electric, or just a portion of that - 75 percent of the fleet - and commit some of the public corporations, like Bahamas Power & Light (BPL).

“Imagine someone like BPL, which sells electricity, say they are not using gasoline powered-cars - they are using electric vehicles.” The cost and reliability of electricity supply in The Bahamas, as offered by BPL, is seen as a deterrent by many to greater electric vehicle penetration, but Mr Bain argued that this was not so.

“Even with the cost of electricity as it is, it’s estimated that the cost of electricity [for a vehicle] is equivalent to $1 per gallon,” he said. “When you compare it with the cost of gasoline now, over $5, it’s an 80 percent savings.” And there were also electric vehicle chargers that can operate using the 110-120 volts of power typically found in homes,” Mr Bain added.

He predicted that it will take the better part of two decades for electric vehicles to become established, and start to take significant share, in the Bahamian vehicle market. Mr Bain based this on the fact that “we follow as usual; we’re not leaders”, and that The Bahamas will “have no choice” once the US and UK move ahead.

Joe Biden, the US president, signed an executive order requiring half of all new US-made vehicles to be electric by 2030, while the UK is aiming to ban the sale of new cars and vans powered entirely by petrol and diesel by 2030. It will then seek to ban the sale of new hybrid vehicles by 2035, with all new cars and vans sold in the UK to be fully electric from that point on.

While praising the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) for offering loans to finance company purchases of electric cars, Mr Bain said their prices also needed to drop further despite noting the $25,000 price point attached to the Nissan Leaf. Electric vehicles, he added, typically ranged from $40,000 to $70,000/$75,000.

And, he noted, the eventual transition to electric vehicles will have “amazing ramifications” for mechanics and radiator shops given that issues with transmissions, overheating, oil changes and grease will start to become a thing of the past.

“They will have to change their technology and adapt to new models and cars. It opens up for specialists and people interested in repairing electric motors as opposed to combustion engines. The cars are smarter, so they operate on computer chips and software,” Mr Bain said.

“Electric vehicles have shown a significant year-over-year sales growth in The Bahamas. We support a further investment by the Government of gradually changing its fleet to electric vehicles that will lead to long-term savings over the life of the vehicle, as well as a reduction in the carbon footprint.”