EV sales surging across T&T

The electric vehicle (EV) transition in T&T is charging ahead rapidly.

In the past two months, several notable car brands such as Mini (Aceman), BYD (Shark), Proton (eMas7) and even roll-on, roll off dealer HSM Marketing (Riddara RD6) have introduced new electric and hybrid vehicle models to the market.

While initially, local dealers may have been testing the waters by introducing these models, the local attitude to the EV market has clearly changed in the past year and a half. The EVs are selling, and quickly at that.

At Thursday’s launch of the Volvo EX90, the brand’s flagship seven-seater SUV EV which starts at $ 1.4 million, Massy Motors brand manager for Volvo T&T, Vir Sieunarine confirmed two of the seven EV cars ordered for this year were already sold.
Kimberly Seegobin, Massy Motors sales manager for Volvo, confirmed new EV sales for the entire industry had increased significantly since the vehicles were introduced to the market.

“So for 2023, the electric cars sold in the entire industry sold was 288 units. As of 2024 we have 697 units sold. So that’s over 100 per cent growth,” she continued, “Year to date, we’re looking at January to May. That’s the data that we have so far. We’re already at 332 units. And that’s, of course, expected to grow a lot more than that.”

She explained that she expected Volvo and the rest of the EV market to continue to enjoy increased sales for the rest of the year.

“We have the new EX30, which is our starting-level electric vehicle. Which starts at $299,000. We’ve got a lot of sales from those $299,000 vehicles as well. I can say we can go up to, by the end of the year, looking at the industry, maybe 300 units that we’ll be selling this year, or even more,” she said.

She explained the hybrid vehicle market also continued to grow.

Seegobin said, “For hybrids, we ended 2023 with 949 vehicles sold by the industry. And for 2024 we sold a total of 1,616 units for the entire year. And this is not just Massy I’m talking about, it is the entire industry, the automotive industry. For 2025, year to date, we’ve sold 1,021 units that are on the market right now.”

At the launch of the Proton eMas7, ANSA Motors general manager of international business, Daryl Young, said the surge in EV sales had been helped by the tax exemptions on customs duty, value-added tax and online purchase tax for chargers and EV car parts had helped the push.

Seegobin agreed but explained there were some more factors.

“I think one of the major reasons that people are going towards the adoption of the hybrid vehicles are exemptions. We have exemptions on the motor vehicle tax, the customs duties and import and VAT,” she said, but she noted customers were also looking at long-term costs in choosing these vehicles.

“The prices that you pay for hybrid units is a lot cheaper than you would pay for a combustion engine depending on what type of unit you’re looking for. As well, you get more bang for your buck when you compare the savings from a hybrid unit to a combustion engine. You can save. I know somebody who did not put gas in their vehicle for months because they never had to,” she said.

“ With regards to the EV units, on the other hand, I will say there are phenomenal savings. When you look at the combustion versus an EV on what you’re saving on gas per year, it can range from about $12,000 to over $20,000.”

Massy Motors assistant vice president for vehicle sales, Charles Bernard, shared another point of view.
He felt the public’s growing acceptance of EVs has also been due to a greater understanding of how they work, as well as the debunking of several commonly held myths about maintenance and mileage on local roads.

Bernard noted from time to time he still see arguments against EVs from some, but it has decreased significantly.

“I think some people don’t even look at the maths behind it. Some days, I drive from Port of Spain to San Fernando every day and back. And that’s only 120 kilometres most times.

“This Volvo EX90 you can get up to 600 kilometres on a single charge. So you can do that run twice or three times a week, easily, without having to charge. So people are so concerned about not having the ability to charge when they need it. That’s why I said earlier, that driving an electric vehicle is a lifestyle change. You have to change your lifestyle around the fact that you have an electric vehicle, and it’ll be fine when it comes to range anxiety. “

Sieunarine himself noted people were beginning to understand that they could make long drives with the vehicles comfortably and cost-effectively as well.

“Charles (Bernard) could correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it is growing tremendously. I think the fear now of range anxiety and where can I charge and where can I put up a charge as all you know is diminishing the minds of the public. I think now we have with charging stations that are set up at home, and people are now realising that it’s like a phone.

“When you reach home, you plug it in and you’re good to go. And you can go throughout T&T,” said Sieunarine, who noted that more charging stations have been installed around the country as well. For instance, last year Republic Bank installed EV charging stations at six of its branches.

Bernard said customers have started adopting the EVs for a variety of reasons, ranging from cost to environmental awareness. 

“We’ve seen, over the last two to three years, a significant increase in electric vehicles in T&T. I think once most people drive an electric vehicle, they are sold on it for different reasons.

“Performance is definitely one of them. The savings that you can benefit from driving an electric vehicle. And as Vir would have touched on, that range anxiety no longer exists. A lot of people, once they understand the technology and how it can benefit them and benefit their pocket that’s why they go in that direction.

“Also with this whole push recently, with the environment and cleaner, greener energy, people are focusing on that as well. So that is definitely a big push.”

The Volvo team said they will continue to expand its EVs, noting that Volvo is expected to be fully electric by 2030. (Source:  The Guardian, June 29, 2025)