Are electric cars the future to a more sustainable Seychelles? |03 June 2016

Fully electric cars are nothing new to the world. The technology has been around for quite a while now, although it has taken quite a bit of time to really hit its stride and become a truly viable alternative to the usual fossil fuels that power most cars.

In Seychelles, where much is being done to create a more environmentally friendly atmosphere, there has been a huge surge of hybrid vehicles, since 2015, which while also partly powered by batteries, still do emit gases into the air. Local automotive distribution company PMC Motors, though, is proposing another way to go…

The company has only recently been promoting one of the top selling electric cars in the world, for a price of R370,000 and that is no other than the Nissan Leaf.

The Leaf is a compact five-door hatchback electric car manufactured by Nissan and introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010, followed by various European countries and Canada in 2011, with a new version launched this year. The Leaf battery packs can be charged from fully discharged to 80% capacity in about 30 minutes using DC fast charging.

As of December 2015, the Nissan Leaf is the world's all-time best selling highway-capable all-electric car. Leaf global sales passed the 200,000 unit milestone in December 2015, five years after its introduction.

I recently had the opportunity to have a first-hand feel of the Nissan Leaf with a test, where I was amazed at how well it performed for an all-electric car.

Jayant Mayadas, the marketing director at PMC, explained that the Nissan Leaf will not only benefit the environment, but to the person purchasing it, they will be able to save quite a lot, as it does not use up as many units to fully charge the car as many would have you believe. In fact, in the average household in Seychelles, it will only add from R50-R150 on your monthly electricity bill, compared to much more you would spend on fuel in a normal car.

“A big question we have had from our clients is that if they live in a flat and not on the ground floor, how will they go about charging the car, which need to simply be plugged in an electric socket, much like a telephone charger. But I really can’t give an answer to that as the normal charging cable is 5m and it is not recommended to use a longer cable,” said Mr Mayadas.

The Leaf however can be fully charged in about 6-8 hours and its range when at 100% percent capacity is about 150km, which for Seychelles is quite ideal. The best part about this car is that each time you press the brake, the energy re-charges your batteries, which means it hardly uses up the battery in traffic jams and recharges quite a bit when going downhill as I found out when going up towards La Misère. Upon reaching Fairview Estate, the battery level was at 53%, but after reaching the Plaisance roundabout, it had increased to 59%!

The main battery life is up to 10 years, while upon purchase you will get a five-year warranty for peace of mind and with no oil, engine or gearbox to be maintained; maintenance is in fact very low on the Leaf.

Of course, a lot of people would still prefer their loud petrol-driven cars to a silent, “green-car”, but the PMC representative states: “It all depends on their state of mind, like for example, when people started making smartphones, many  were sceptical about it and chose to stay with their older mobile phones, but everybody is using a smartphone and so this will eventually grow on people, although it does remain a question of choice, although we are convinced that this is the future of land travel in the world.”

What’s more is that if you decide to invest in a photo-voltaic system, where you produce your energy through solar panels, then you really would not spend at all with such car.

The Leaf comes with so much more surprises for the owner as I found out in such little time, but it would be unwise for me to spoil all the surprises for you who are interested in purchasing such a wonder, which I am sure, despite its unconventional look, which you can either love or hate, will be a big hit in a country where sustainable development is a big part of our future.