San Cristobal, Galapagos Needs Two Hundred Electric Vehicles

San Cristobal, Galapagos Needs Two Hundred Electric Vehicles

In conjunction with the government of Ecuador and electrical institutions and companies in the Galapagos, Galapagos Solar (www.galapagosolar.com) and Come To Galapagos (www.cometogalapagos.com) are initiating several of the first steps to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in the Galapagos by the year 2015.

One of those key steps is the introduction of electric vehicles on San Cristobal. We are seeking the help of EV manufacturers in accomplishing the goal of replacing one half of all the existing automobiles and motorcycles on San Cristobal (300 cars and five hundred motorcycles) with EVs.

The manufacturer or manufacturers who participate in this program will be exempted from the import taxes normally imposed by Ecuador on manufactured goods arriving from outside the country. Galapagos Solar is looking for a price point per vehicle that would reflect a dealer’s or distributor’s cost per vehicle delivered to Guayaquil Ecuador. From there Galapagos Solar can arrange shipping to San Cristobal.

Exposure and education are critical in changing entrenched modes of behavior (driving fossil fuel burning vehicles) and important sales practices. To this end we are looking for a company to donate, lend or lease the first vehicle or two.

Automobiles and motorcycles are chiefly used for transporting passengers here on San Cristobal so we are primarily looking for vehicles that can handle 4 to 6 passengers and motorcycles. Not all of the roads on San Cristobal are paved and some of the paved ones are somewhat bumpy, so vertical clearance is a factor along with all of the usual factors for EVs, range, speed, battery and charging details etc.

The process will be to come to an agreement with a manufacturer regarding the above, present this agreement to the various agencies and companies involved here, Ingala (government), Elegalapagos (electric company), Municipality of San Cristobal, Eolicsa (Electric company maintaining the 800 Kw wind turbines we have here) and coordinate the arrival of the first vehicles and subsequent sales.

The government of Ecuador will be granting incentives for the purchase of these vehicles. Currently no new permissions for vehicles are being granted in the Galapagos. If a permission exists, this allows the owner to transfer it from one vehicle to the next as replacement of the vehicle becomes necessary. Only new vehicles are allowed to be shipped to the Galapagos. One incentive would be granting more permissions to bring vehicles if these vehicles are electric, another would be a two for one exchange, one fossil fuel burning vehicle for two electric and finally free charging of the vehicles.

Here on San Cristobal we have three 800 kilowatt wind turbines, but we have no manner to store this energy. The wind blows hardest at night when demand is low, so most of that energy is going to waste.

Electric vehicles can act as community storage as their batteries can be charged at night, thereby eliminating the need for importing an
estimated 12,000 gallons of gasoline a month from the continent.

The government of Ecuador is dedicated to reducing the amount of fossil fuel used in the Galapagos to zero by 2015. This would be an important step in achieving that goal, at least here on the island of San Cristobal where we have the wind turbines.

We are looking for a company willing to step up and take part in a pilot program to show the people of San Cristobal and the government of Ecuador the advantages of electrical vehicles here, where the
electricity needed to charge these vehicles arrives from an existing
œgreen source that is currently not being used.

Commercially, this is an opportunity for a company to sell hundreds of
vehicles while receiving an unprecedented amount of free publicity for their efforts, not to mention œdoing good.

For more info. contact author.

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