CITING the coalition administration’s push into the era of the Green Economy, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), on Thursday, unveiled the first government-owned, fully-electric car.
The car, a 2019 Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle (EV),which was procured following budgetary allocations in 2019, was displayed to members of the media on Thursday at the National Culture Centre tarmac.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Junior Minister, Jaipaul Sharma, were on hand to witness the promotional event.

CEO of the GEA, Dr Mahender Sharma, who has been testing the vehicle’s operability in recent weeks, told reporters that when compared to the Suzuki Vitara, the former is more economical when used on the roadway. He explained that the Suzuki Vitara costs some $50 per km while the EV costs around $10 per kilometer.

Sharma said that the vehicle is fully electric and has a 40kWh battery. This provides about 150 driving miles which is almost 240 km on a single charge.He said that the vehicle is charged at ports at the GEA where solar power is provided for re-charge. He said the body intends to lobby for post to be placed strategically around the country and, according to him, there is already a hybrid model to the Nissan Leaf on the country’s roadways.
Minister Patterson noted that the acquisition of the vehicle by the GEA is the commencement of a process which will include data collection to determine the costs of operation, general operation among other information.

He said that this will determine how feasible it is to convert more of current government fleet to EVs. He said this can also lead to the use of EVs in the public transportation system.

As regards cost of the vehicle, Sharma explained that the Nissan Leaf’s overall landed cost after posting value-added tax (VAT) was about $10.6M. He pointed out that the vehicle does not require muffler, oil and filter changes.