JAMAICA’S first and only dedicated electric vehicle (EV) company Flash Motors Company Limited has been formally launched.

Flash Motors will supply a full suite of best-in-class EVs, EV service equipment, and charging network solutions across the Caribbean. The Jamaican launch has been perfectly timed, as the global auto industry is currently in transition and will be exclusively producing electric vehicles within the next 10-20 years.

Jamaica recently announced a reduced EV duty, and in light of rising uncertainty around oil prices for the foreseeable future, similar concessions are being announced across the region. The Government has, however, indicated that the number of EV imports that will get the concessionary rate will be capped at 1,000 each year.

Dr Nigel Clarke, the minister of finance, announced in his opening budget presentation that the import duty on electric motor vehicles will be reduced from 30 per cent to 10 per cent, for an initial three-year period; and an exemption on the annual registration fees on battery electric vehicles.

Clarke indicated that the Government earned $27 million in duties from the importation of electric vehicles last year and that the reduced duty has a cost of $18 million on current volumes.

Model vehicles from the Flash team’s flagship EV brand have already arrived on the island and will soon be available pending their commercial launch. Most major brands have already announced EVs to be released by 2030, and Honda, BMW, Ford, Kia, Benz, and Audi have already begun to promote their EVs.

According to Statista, US-based Tesla Inc is the market leader in the EV space as it sold 936,200 units in 2021. This is closely followed by the German-based Volkswagen AG and China’s BYD Auto. Mordor Intelligence’s most recent report valued the EV market at US$370.86 billion with a 2027 projection of US$1.3 trillion.

The EV market has taken off in the US public equity markets as numerous special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC’s) merged with Lordstown Motors, Lion Electric Company, Lucid Motors and Canoo to make them public. Even Amazon’s investment in Rivian Automotive resulted in its fourth quarter earnings moving sixfold above analyst expecations.

Barbados has the most EV’s per capita in the the Caribbean with more than 430 EVs on the island, one of which was handed over to the Prime Minister’s Office last week. The country’s 2030 national energy policy aims to reduce fossil fuel consumption through the electrification of its buses and public vehicles. In the Dominican Republic, the duties and registration fees for EVs have been cut in half which spurred a sharp rise in EV usage.

However, developing nations like Jamaica do not currently have the infrastructure to be ready for the wave of changes to come. Evergo Jamaica is currenlty building out a charging station network across the country from places like gas stations, hotels and even supermarket parking lots.

In response, Flash Motors has already begun to initiate EV solutions in Caribbean territories, including the installations of charging stations across Jamaica. The company was started by mechanical engineer Xavier Gordon and seasoned finance professional Carey Escoffery, who have ignited the EV revolution in the Caribbean with the launch of Flash Motors.

Gordon, 38, a former Ardenne High School student, and Escoffery, 37, who grew up in Canada with his mother hailing from St Elizabeth and father from St Catherine, met in their college years in Toronto, through the National Society of Black Engineers. The pair are focused on renewable energy, storage e-technology, and electric transportation.

Gordon, a mechanical engineer and EV expert, and Escoffery, an experienced corporate finance professional, began working together from as far back as 2010 and have been advising and providing EV solutions to governments, utilities, and private clients in Canada, Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean since 2016. The duo has joined forces with founding investor and director Zachary Harding – executive chairman of Delta Capital Partners and former CEO of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator.

Flash will lean on Harding’s experience in the sustainable energy investment space, government relations, regional business development and strategy. The Flash Motors board is rounded out by John Farmer of Easy Car Sales in The Bahamas.

Having operated a successful EV-only dealership since 2017, Farmer is a Caribbean electric vehicle pioneer and expert in electric transportation. His experience in EV sales is an asset to the team’s product and service offering.

The Jamaica Observer on Wednesday stated that Jamaica-based renewable company Wigton Windfarm has now bolstered its foothold in the Caribbean renewable energy space, with their recent disclosure to the Jamaica Stock Exchange of their investment into Flash Holdings Limited (FHL) for a 21 per cent ownership stake in the company. FHL is a St Lucian International Business Company and sole shareholder of Flash Motors.

According to Escoffery, “The Flash Motors team has begun its work in Jamaica out of a deep connection with their Jamaican roots. Xavier was born and grew up here, and my parents have always ensured that I was connected to my culture and family. I am Jamaican to the bone. So there was no hesitation for us to put boots to ground, or rather rubber to the road in our homeland.”

The Flash Motors directors expressed excitement in their “mission to electrify the Caribbean and spearhead the charge for a cleaner, greener region led by the vision of zero-emission vehicles”.