This Remote Island is Now Open to EVs

Photo Subaru

The isolated island of St Helena in the South Atlantic has just got its first public electric car charge point, opening up the remote region to EV road trippers.

In a joint venture between Subaru, charger company Easee and the local government the charging unit was installed - even though there are currently only four electric cars in a population of 5,000 people on the tropical island.

However, with a huge solar array already producing a quarter of the island’s electrical energy needs the number of EVs is set to increase dramatically as a local hire car company will soon be taking delivery of a new fleet of electric cars.

Before then the new charging station was put to the test using a Subaru Solterra. Driven for a whole day across the island’s mix of tarred and dirt roads, the car reportedly only used 20 per cent of its charge.

St Helena is aiming to generate 80 per cent of its power by renewables by 2028 and dramatically cut the amount of fossil fuel imported. “The next step is to roll out the infrastructure so that we are using electric vehicles more and more on the island,” says Mark Brooks, St Helena Minister for Treasury and Economic Development.  “There are a lot of diesel and petrol vehicles primarily and we want to change that behaviour and start to use more electric vehicles.”

The British Overseas Territory of St Helena, situated some 1,200 miles off the coast of Africa, is best known as Napoleon’s final place of exile and as home to a 192-year-old tortoise, but soon could become one of the greenest driving destinations on earth.

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