IDB to back EV rental business in Trinidad

IDB LAB will provide financing for start-up GoElectricTT in support of the push towards the adoption of electric vehicles in Trinidad & Tobago.

GoElectricTT will offer short- and long-term leases and rentals of an all-electric vehicle fleet, and will engage in outreach and public education on the benefits of using the vehicles. With an initial fleet of 15 vehicles, the start-up will focus on the business sector of Trinidad & Tobago and target companies that typically own or lease fleets.

Through this business model, GoElectricTT will provide consumers with the option of experiencing EVs without having to take on the risk of a longterm commitment in the form of purchase.

IDB Lab, the innovation and venture laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, says the project aims to help avoid 190 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion over a two-year period, while advancing the IDB Group’s goal of introducing innovation and new technologies that are low in carbon emissions, and for the digitalisation of the transport sector.

The longer-term objective is to drive adoption of electric vehicles on a larger scale, as supply and acquisition costs become more favourable.

Trinidad & Tobago’s population of approximately 1.4 million people operate more than 800,000 vehicles. Most of these vehicles have internal combustion engines, which produce pollution and contribute to climate change.

The IDB Lab said despite fiscal incentives on the importation of electric vehicles as a way to move towards a low-carbon future, the adoption of these vehicles has been slow – accounting for less than one per cent of new registrations.

“This investment contributes to IDB Lab’s growing portfolio in climate technology, which focuses on creating early-stage opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean, leveraging innovation and priorisiting reallife impact for the people of the region,” it said.