ELIAS Lee Issa, the hotelier who also opened Lee’s Fifth Avenue, Jamaica’s first clothing department store, and who built a chain of hotels, is at it again.

With the tagline, “Charge it and go”, the businessman has opened Ellesco, an electric bike and warehouse equipment store in Ferry, St Catherine, offering a range of electric, motorised scooters and bikes and electric moving equipment.

The bikes, powered by one or two rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, can go between 75 and 150 kilometres in distance. With their futuristic designs and silent mode, the entrepreneur who opened shop one week ago is expecting significant take-up from businesses which use bikes and scooters and Jamaicans who love biking.

Travelling up to 30 km per hour, the electric scooters emit no exhaust fumes.

The new electric motorised equipment outlet, Lee Issa said, was a total investment of $75 million. He told the Jamaica Observer that, under COVID-19 conditions, he has realised “even more than ever, the benefits of diversification to an even greater level”.

Issa operates the family run Couples hotel chain (two in Ocho Rios and two in Negril) and also Richmond Estates in St Ann. Primarily a tourism investor, he started his career in that industry with the opening of Swept Away Resort in Negril with an initial 140 rooms. Now known as Couples Swept Away, this hotel with 312 rooms is part of Couples Resorts, a collection of four boutique-type, all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica with a room base of 920 rooms.

On Ellescoja.com, the new St Catherine company’s website, the entrepreneur states, “Going electric is one of the most sustainable means of transport and plays a central role in the mobility of the future. Research has shown that electrical machinery and vehicles are better for the environment.

“They emit fewer greenhouse gases and air pollution than petrol or diesel machinery/engines. Better air quality will lead to less health problems and costs caused by air pollution, also reducing noise pollution and carbon footprint.”

Issa outlined, “We just launched one week ago. The number of employees is four at the present time.” While Jamaicans have up to this time expressed more interest in bikes and scooters, he said the e-lifters are “ also for the construction industry and when you have to move efficiently and cost-effectively move the pallet. The stackers are like forklifts”.

He added, “We are leading in our field. We have to save the planet, reduce the carbon footprint – electricity is the future.

The bikes and scooters run on lithium batteries using either one battery or two. One battery powers the vehicle for 75 km while two will provide power for 150 km.

The batteries, which are charged from 110 volt outlets, take four to six hours to charge. All equipment come with their own chargers. Issa advised, adding “They have few moving parts, are low maintenance, economical to run and pollution-free.”

Similar features are reflected in warehouse equipment. One is a scissors lift designed to smoothly move up or down to any desired height, and to maintain that height even if there is a power failure.

The entrepreneur said break-even for the new company is expected at the end of 12 months, adding “Any business, especially when you have a new product, takes time for acceptance. The prices are competitive, compared to gasoline bikes.”

In an update on his family run hotel operation, he said that the four properties are in recovery mode from the fallout of 2020.

The properties are now at 60 per cent occupancy, a number expected by bookings to improve to 70 in November. Issa noted, “There is a lot of pent-up demand. Jamaica is a popular brand. Our main markets are the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. They [our clients] miss us. We expect to have a bumper [winter] season, “ he said, unless things change. “We are on our way back to profitability. It’s been a rough time.”