JPS to roll out 6 new EV charging locations this year

Expect more electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to come on stream in 2025. 

That’s the word from JPS Business Development Manager, Richard Gordon, who has disclosed that additional charging stations are in the pipeline for the light company’s buildout of its Charge ‘n Go EV network.

“We currently have 37 plugs across 17 locations … for this year, the plan is for at least six new fast charging stations across the island,” the senior JPS executive divulged. “We haven’t finalised all the locations yet, but [will do so] within the next month or two. They will be basically to support moving around the island to fill some of the areas we currently need to have additional infrastructure.”

Offering his assessment of the company’s Charge ‘n Go expansion — which launched in May 2021 with the commissioning of the very first EV station in Jamaica at Boot Gas Station in Drax Hall, St. Ann — Gordon said: “It has been going along good. Every month, we are seeing growth in terms of the usage of the network, year-over-year, it’s in the region of 400 per cent.”
 

“[A lot] of the electric vehicle sales happen towards the end of the year into January, that’s usually when you see the greatest growth.  At this stage of the development…  we are building more charging stations to meet that demand before it arrives,” explained Gordon, who is also project manager for the JPS EV charging infrastructure.

Gordon’s comments came earlier this month following his presentation on electric mobility and decarbonisation to sixth-form high school students attending CAPE/ Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workshops, facilitated by the JPS Foundation in partnership with the University of the West Indies, Mona.

The foundation signed a $16 million, five-year Memorandum of Understanding in 2023 with UWI. The Foundation provides support for annual workshops, which commenced with the first cohort of students last year, for students preparing to sit STEM CAPE subjects in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Geography and Math.

Gordon said he was pleased with the level of interest demonstrated by the students who paid rapt attention to his overview of the island’s EV network and the government’s National Electric Policy.

“The questions that we got were good,” he surmised. “Some of them really had a lot more knowledge. I was a bit surprised but you realise via the Internet, they are able to get access to a lot of information. They were able to ask in-depth questions. It may have been new for some, but you find a general level of high interest in electric vehicles. They [the students] understand they are the future, and of course, they would want a cleaner climate to live with. Generally, you find the youth are receptive to electric vehicles.”

Shifting attention to the sitting administration’s electric policy that was drafted in 2023, Gordon pointed to two main pillars. “One is for there to be easy access for charging infrastructure to reduce the range anxiety. This allows persons in their decision-making to transition to electric vehicles more easily. Then, there are the public fleets – for the government to transition its fleet to electric vehicles,” he noted. “We provide some support by working with the Jamaica Urban Transit Company.  We help them to analyse their data from their performance, and the total cost of operation of an electric vehicle to lower that cost.”

He also pointed to other aspects of the utility’s support for EV drivers – as the company is actively engaging with property managers of multi-home dwellings (eg. apartment complexes) to provide charging installations in their common areas.  Also, EV drivers who use the public JPS Charge N Go network, are encouraged to check the ChargeLab App to know which locations have adaptors readily available for use.

Meanwhile, Andre Coy, Associate Dean for External Engagement at UWI’s Faculty of Science and Technology, lauded the university’s partnership with the JPS Foundation in assisting the next generation of STEM-aligned professionals being groomed for the future.  “[The partnership] is a meaningful, tangible expression of the Foundation’s commitment to STEM education. The funding provided allows the UWI to keep the registration fee paid by students to a minimum ($1,500) less than half of the true economic cost. This has the practical effect of making the workshop accessible to students who would ordinarily not be able to afford it,” the dean noted.

Coy explained that UWI provides academic support in the form of lectures and laboratory activities directly related to the CAPE curriculum’s STEM subjects. “Students cover topics that have been shown to be problematic, as recorded in CXC examination reports. Many schools do not have lab equipment required to complete internal assessments, so the lab activities serve as an opportunity to complete these assessments. Additionally,  the workshops provide an opportunity to experience the university environment, and to be exposed to the variety of options available for tertiary level education at the UWI,” the university administrator noted.

The Faculty of Science and Technology offers 46 different undergraduate degrees available and 22 master’s degrees, including severalof energy-related degrees in such areas as Renewable Energy Management; Energy Technology and Alternative Energy.