Photo: Minister of Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett with electric car importer Pia Farmer pictured in Parliament Square. The Minister will officially launch the introduction of the first public charging station at the Bahamas National Trust Saturday when members of the public are invited to test drive the vehicle.
Most official openings are celebrated with a cutting of the ribbon. But the Nissan Leaf is not most cars. It’s the first electric car being imported into The Bahamas by a dealer and when it is officially launched on Saturday, April 9, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett will not only cut a green ribbon, he’ll mark the historic occasion by plugging in to the nation’s first public charging station.
“We are very excited about Saturday’s event and about partnering with the Bahamas National Trust for the first public charging station,” said Pia Farmer, a director of Easy Car Sales, the Gladstone Road-based company which is importing the world’s most popular e-car, the Nissan Leaf. “What attracted us to the car was the environmentally friendly nature of the vehicle with zero emissions and we could think of no better location than the National Trust headquarters on Village Road for the first official charging station.”
In countries with significant numbers of e-cars, charging stations are located along busy streets and in parking lots of everything from big box stores and malls to boutiques as a marketing tool to draw customers who can charge their vehicle while they dine, sip or shop. A recent piece by Bloomberg predicted that half the new cars sold by the year 2030 would be electric. And when Tesla, the designer of the first luxury electric sports car, announced it was taking orders for the more reasonably priced Model 3 that would start rolling off the assembly line in late 2017, it was bombarded by $1,000 deposits for more than a quarter of a million reservations within days.
“The Nissan Leaf sales may be a bit slower than that,” smiled Farmer, “but we are already seeing a great uptick in interest and we believe that interest will increase steadily as people see the value -- good for the environment, good for the pocketbook.”
The Leaf, which seats five passengers, can deliver a minimum of 80 miles on a single charge, reaches highway speeds in seconds, features Bluetooth technology and a Bose sound system. The slightly used, pre-owned 2013-2014 models sell for just under $20,000 at Easy Car Sales. “And the best thing apart from not ever needing fuel again is the 1,000 parts you never need to repair or replace,” said Farmer.
Saturday’s event at the Bahamas National Trust runs from 10 am to 2 pm, is free and the official launch and initial plug-in is set for 10:30 with test drives in three cars available for the occasion.
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