TROPICAL Mobility, the transportation division of Tropical Batteries, is seeking to make further inroads into the servicing of electric vehicles, in particular Tesla-branded vehicles, and to that end has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dominican Republic-based Zero Emision RD.

Zero Emission RD company has been in operation since 2016 and has been selling fully electric vehicles (EVs) and providing post-sales service. Since its inception the company has sold more than 700 EVs, including more than 320 Teslas.

As per the terms of the MOU, Zero Emisión RD and Tropical Mobility will cooperate on training and technical support to provide service to battery electric vehicle drivers in Jamaica, including owners of Tesla EVs.

CEO of Tropical Mobility Oliver Hill explained that the company recognised a gap in the EV market as a small number of Jamaicans were purchasing Tesla EVs — thus taking a huge risk — without there being the infrastructure on the island to provide charging and repair services.

“Our strategy in partnering with this company is to gain know-how in expertise [so as] to be able to train local technicians in Jamaica to work with Tropical Mobility to be able to service the existing Teslas that are in Jamaica right now, as well as to be able to bring in Teslas for resale and to incorporate into our own fleet at Tropical Battery and its subsidiaries,” he told
Jamaica Observer.

The onboarding process for technicians will begin immediately, Hill revealed, starting with Tropical Batteries’ in-house personnel. They will be trained in the installation of Tesla charging stations.

The Jamaican automobile and lubricants distributor is also a party to the Government’s eDrive programme, which is being implemented by Jamaica Public Service and IDB Lab with a view to stimulate the adoption of electric mobility. As part of this programme a number of mechanics have been trained through the Jamaican-German Automotive School and will be certified in the servicing of EVs.

“So we hope we can hire technicians who have already done an EV course, but even if they haven’t, we can help them get trained through this course being sponsored by eDrive,” Oliver stated.

He further outlined that Zero Emisión RD is affiliated with a training institute in Miami, Florida, in the USA called CISE Electronica, which offers courses in electric vehicle diagnostics, servicing and repairs throughout Latin America.

Following the recruitment and training of technicians, Tropical Mobility will be leveraging its partnership with Zero Emisión RD to source parts for Tesla EVs.

“Really, it’s a knowledge-based partnership where, instead of us having to learn the ropes we have a company behind us that has been doing this for years already and will help guide us in fitting out our service centre in training technicians,” Oliver clarified.

When asked about plans to distribute Tesla vehicles on a wide scale to the public the Tropical Mobility CEO said that there are no immediate plans to do so since a number a factors must be taken into account. Chief among these considerations is that the American EV company has a direct-to-consumer model of selling its vehicles and only engages third-party companies as service centres.

“So we see this as a way to establish ourselves as a service centre and, hopefully, in the future should Tesla decide that Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are markets they want to support directly, we would be the natural go-to partner because we’re already offering that service in island and they won’t have to introduce the service from scratch,” Oliver explained to Business Observer.

He however maintained that another advantage to Tropical Mobility’s partnership with Zero Emission RD is the ability to “leverage their existing relationships with the procurement of parts”. Already, Zero Emission RD has been engaging potential partnerships in other Caribbean jurisdictions to provide Tesla EV-servicing infrastructure.

Commenting on the investment in training and building out the infrastructure in Jamaica, Oliver estimated that the initial supply of equipment that Tropical Mobility will need may cost “a couple hundred US [dollars]”.

Zero Emisión RD founder and President Charles Sanchez, who is also vice-president and new technologies training coordinator for CISE Electronics, said the Dominican entity is ready to support the development of the electric mobility ecosystem in Jamaica.

“This partnership with Tropical Mobility is just the type of cooperation we need between Caribbean countries to build the high-value, knowledge-based service industries that will drive the transiton to sustainable, low-carbon economic growth,” he is quoted in a release from Tropical Mobility.