Virgin Islands Energy Office (VIEO) Director Kyle Fleming is pleased to announce the execution of a subgrantee award that will pave the way for the first domestic sales of electric vehicles (EV)in the territory by an affiliate of an American automobile manufacture, as well as the establishment of state of the art EV service centers in both Districts. The contract between VIEO and Metro Motors VI will eliminate long standing barriers to EV ownership in the territory and make this exciting technological evolution accessible to the Virgin Islands community.
The agreement, which goes into force August 1st, outlines how VIEO will reimburse Metro Motors for purchasing the tools needed to fully service electric vehicles, procuring and installing Level III DC fast charging stations on St. Croix and St. Thomas. As well as committing to carrying popular EV models on their showroom floors in both districts. The deal also ensures that government and private sector electric vehicles from manufacturers affiliated with Metro Motors VI will have local access to the rare servicing needs that may arise.
“One year ago this week, VIEO hosted the territory’s first ever EV summit, which highlighted how the Energy Office was going to leverage federal funding to create a sustainable EV ecosystem in the Virgin Islands. This partnership with Metro Motors VI represents one of the most significant milestones we’ve achieved towards that goal, and ensures that EV owners can feel confident that they will be able to depend on their vehicles over their useful life,” Director Fleming said.
The effort to create a viable pathway toward anxiety free EV ownership has benefited greatly from the leadership of Governor Albert Bryan Jr. who fully supported and facilitated VIEO’s long term vision, as well as robust legislative support for renewable and energy efficient solutions which stretches back decades in the territory.
Congressional support has also been instrumental, as it has allowed VIEO to leverage US Department of Energy State Energy Program formula funding made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to fund the subgrantee award.
VIEO has taken a holistic approach to nurturing the territory’s transportation electrification ambitions. Under the auspices of the Government Operations Fleet Efficiency and Electrification Transformation (GO FLEET) initiative VIEO has facilitated the procurement of dozens of EVs for public service use, vehicles that have markedly cut down not only on governmental fuel costs and polluting emissions. But also served to demonstrate the capacity of the technology to work across the territory’s varied terrain, all while fulfilling a tertiary mission of educating the public about the capabilities of EVs.
Aside from leading the charge on fleet electrification, VIEO has been at the forefront of efforts to equip the territory with public EV charging infrastructure. Over the Christmas Holiday season VIEO and its partner contractors installed eight pedestal mounted Level II EV chargers on St. Croix, including the Christian “Shan” Hendricks Vegetable
Market in Christiansted. In July VIEO broke ground in the Northern District on the second wave of charger installations, beginning work on installing six pedestal mounted chargers at the Fort Christian Parking Lot. In total VIEO will install 16 public facing chargers as part of this latest infrastructure build out. Each of the Siemens VersiCharge pedestals is equipped with two chargers, and are currently configured to allow for free charging thanks to the leveraging of Department of the Interior Energizing Insular Communities grant. The chargers in the St. Thomas and St. John District are expected to undergo final commissioning by the manufacturer in the next six to eight weeks.
Although the price gap between EVs and their conventional counterparts is shrinking, making the switch to a battery powered vehicle is still a significant investment. To help defray some of the cost VIEO is administering the Electric Mobility program, an incentive that offers Virgin Islanders a rebate of up to $5,000 when they register their new or used eligible electric vehicle at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. VIEO advises consumers to take advantage of federal tax credits worth up to $7,500 for new qualifying plug‐in electric vehicles, (EV) and as much as $4,000 for used EVs before they expire after Sept. 30th.
Currently Metro Motors VI has one EV technician on staff. But thanks to efforts spearheaded by the Virgin Islands Department of Education (VIDE) Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) the company’s dealerships will soon have a pipeline of locally cultivated talent to hire from. Beginning at the start of the 2024‐2025 academic year CTEC opened enrollment for its Electric Vehicle (EV) Maintenance and Repair course. Under the guidance of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Master Automobile Technician Christopher Smith, the program’s four students have completed during the courses first semester a capstone project that saw them assemble from the wheels up a fully functional Switch EV kit car. Going into their second semester the students will focus on gaining hands on experience working on a commercial EV while they study for the ASE Light Duty Hybrid/Electric Vehicle Specialist (L3) certification exam, currently the gold standard for EV technicians.
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