Electric vehicles gradually gaining popularity in Guyana – owners

…as General Motors make EVs affordable to developing countries

By Vahnu Manikchand

As efforts are being undertaken globally to combat climate change, one of the major contributing factors is the high carbon emissions and according to reports, the global transportation sector accounts for approximately a quarter of the world’s CO2 emissions.
In the United States, where the transportation sector is responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere, General Motors – the largest auto manufacturer in the US city of Detroit – is aggressively moving to phase out its gas and diesel engines for all light-duty vehicles.

Back in January 2021, General Motors announced plans to completely switch to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035. Though ambitious, Vice President of Global Public Policy at General Motors, Tom Cooney is confident that they will meet this target, while also making EVs available at an affordable cost to developing countries.
During a recent Virtual Reporting Tour on US innovations to combat Climate Change hosted by the Department of State’s Foreign Press Center (FPC), Cooney spoke of General Motors’s technical innovations and how they will help to fight the climate crisis.
“We have an aspiration to be carbon-neutral by 2040. That means our fleet and also our operations and our facilities. So, this is a bold vision that we’re moving towards – all electric, zero emissions – and we’re already well on our way… We’ve made commitments to introduce 30 all-electric models – 30 all-electric models globally – by 2025. That’s just four years from now and they’re starting to roll out now… But 30 electric models by 2025 and 40 per cent of our company’s models just in the United States will be battery electric by 2025. That’s the speed at which we’re moving,” he outlined to reporters from around the world.
According to Cooney, these initiatives require a lot of financial investment, and currently General Motors has started investing $27 billion from 2020 which will run until 2025 with $7 billion for this year alone.

Recognising that the move to electric vehicles is not an inexpensive one, the General Motors Vice President of Global Public Policy posited that the affordability of EVs is important especially now when the cost of a battery vehicle is still more expensive than the cost of using an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. However, he contended that this will not be the case in the coming years and the auto company – like many others – is working on driving down the cost of batteries, of the minerals, and of the processing so as to make EVs more affordable.
As part of its battery technology, General Motors is entering into joint ventures to manufacture its own batteries with estimated range of 450 miles – on a single charge, and acceleration of 0 to 60 in three seconds.
According to Cooney, his office is engaging governments around the world in finding ways to get foothold in them, particularly developing countries where there are little to no infrastructure for light-duty vehicles.
“So we’re working with governments around the world through a variety of fora not only as GM, but also with – in association with other automakers to help build that environment out there and increase consumer confidence to adopt an EV,” he stated.
On this note, the General Motors Vice President of Global Public Policy contended that incentives from Government are extremely important to get this done. He pointed to EV incentives such as tax write-offs or rebates for purchase of an EV, which he said are “…designed to help with climate change and help with this adoption. And so that’s – the consumer incentives are very important.”
Cooney further outlined that investment in public infrastructure for EVs such as charging stations is also a big motivator to switch from gas and diesel engines.

EVs in Guyana
In Guyana, the entry of electric vehicles into the local market took shape after hybrid and electric vehicles were exempted from the payment of Excise Tax in the 2017 National Budget.
In the 2019 Budget a proposal to amend the Customs Act to include relief from Customs duty for cars with a capacity equivalent to 2000 cc in Watts and to waive the Excise Tax on all-electric motorcycles was announced.
Following this, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) in February 2020 unveiled the first State-owned, fully-electric car – a 2019 Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle (EV). Since then, the Agency has not acquired any other EVs.
But with Guyana’s transport sector accounting for some 30 per cent of fossil fuel imports, the move towards greener technologies in this industry has been gaining traction.
In fact, since the wavier of duties and Excise Tax on EVs, the importation of these light-duty vehicles have been on the raise with more car dealers bringing in electric vehicles and more persons purchasing them.
At least one local car dealer has indicated that while the EVs do not sell as often or as fast as the internal combustion engine, there has been increased interests from customers on this type of vehicles.
“Maybe it has something to do with the wavier of the duties because these vehicles cost much less than the normal fossil fuel vehicles. But we do see one, two people asking for electric vehicles or if someone buying a vehicle and ask for advice, we would tell them about electric vehicles among the options and they would show interest. But not everybody is the same, people are still sceptical because they hear these stories of people getting stranded after the batteries run down and stuff like that,” the auto dealer related.
While it could be some time before vehicle users in Guyana are comfortable with buying EVs, one Nissan Leaf car owner does not regret switching to the light-duty vehicle.
Delroy Dash was struggling with the high fuel cost from his ICE vehicle. This, compounded by other operating expenses, prompted him to explore cheaper alternatives which led to his decision to purchase an electric car.
“Since its cheaper to operate… There are many differences when it comes to driving an EV to an ICE car. The most impressive one for me is the cost of operation. My daily commute would usually cost $1800 with the ICE car and with the EV, it cost that amount for about two and half days. The car is much more comfortable to drive since there is no vibration from an engine and the acceleration and stirring are very much more responsive,” he explained.
The only downside of owning an EV, Dash mentioned, is the inability to charge anywhere.
“I usually charge at home. The Nissan Leaf which is the electric car that is driven in Guyana comes with its charger so all that is needed is a compatible socket in your home. More infrastructure would be nice but that would only make sense if there was a good percentage of EVs on our roads or if the Government was looking to encourage more EV imports,” he posited.
According to Dash, other EV owners he interacted with have nothing but good things to share about their experience with the light-duty cars.