00:00People's attitudes on St Helena towards the environment are changing.
00:22Since the government invested in wind turbines and solar panels to help contribute towards
00:28our electricity generation, it's helped to open up people's minds in terms of what is available.
00:34So there's only very few electric vehicles on the island at the moment,
00:38so we are excited to be in partnership with Subaru and a charging company that
00:43has installed an electric charger in the remotest place in the world.
00:48So usually projects like these you have big technical teams behind you,
00:52but actually we're sending this vehicle as it is, we're so confident in its reliability.
00:57This could be a real marked testbed for us because the electricians are so far away,
01:01the charger is so far away. It allows us to stress test a lot of our systems,
01:04be that the data connection to the charger, to see if we can fix something so remote.
01:08For a lot of people who haven't necessarily owned an electric vehicle before, this will help to,
01:13I think, convince them that there is space here to replace their diesel and petrol-reliant vehicles.
01:18We are hugely reliant at this current state on imported diesel. We spend about five million
01:24pounds a year bringing diesel in. We're looking to transition to more renewable energy production.
01:31I would love to see a day when St Helena is zero emissions.
01:36If the message for St Helena, for tourists and for locals, is that we become the place where
01:43we have the most remote rechargeable hub, I think it just sends a message to all different
01:48stakeholders.
01:50We already have installed chargers in quite interesting places,
01:54far reaches of northern Norway, as well as multi-million pound apartments in London.
01:59So we believe that location shouldn't be an issue for where chargers are. So to be able to supply
02:03chargers into St Helena, which is so remote, is a really interesting and exciting opportunity for us.
02:09We're really excited to be invited to be part of this project. It's a real testament to the
02:13Subaru's reliability and capability that we've been invited. And to be honest, if you can operate
02:19an electric vehicle in this type of environment, then you really can anywhere.
02:23I think our generation is already making waves and helping to change that mindset from
02:27fossil fuel related and reliant living.
02:31I think that even here we can see a shift in people's attitudes.
02:37I am looking to bring electrical vehicles to the island in the first quarter of 2025,
02:44to trial to see if there is going to be the demand.
02:47People are very open and enthusiastic to have electric vehicles.
02:52If you were to revisit the island in five years time, the number of electric cars
02:57you'll find on island, I am confident will be three figures.
03:02We want to incentivise people bringing in more electric vehicles.
03:05So installing electric chargers, putting in the infrastructure,
03:10and then we can work on policies to try and increase the electric vehicle fleet on the island.
03:17We are able to keep pace with what is happening in the rest of the world and we can see how
03:21we all need to be more sustainable if we want to have a future for our children.
03:25I think it's very possible that we can become completely green. We could only have diesel
03:32generation in terms of resilience in case something goes wrong with the renewables.
03:38But it's entirely possible that we can run the entire island from renewable energy.
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