Chief Financial Officer of Flash Motors, Carey Escoffery, says an initial public offer (IPO) is “definitely in the cards” for the electric vehicle (EV) sales company.

Speaking on Taking Stock with Kalilah Reynolds, Escoffery said the company is focused on building out the electric vehicle market in Jamaica and won’t go public until it is in the position to do so.

Flash Motors is Jamaica’s first fully dedicated EV sales company and is set to supply best-in-class EVs, EV service equipment, and charging networks across the Caribbean. 

Wigton Windfarm recently acquired a 21 percent stake in the company, which is run by two Jamaican-Canadians, Escoffery and CEO, Xavier Gordon.

Escoffery noted that while Flash Motors is not yet listed, owning shares in Wigton will expose investors to the success of the company.

The executives say they intend to begin supplying EVs to Jamaica this year. The vehicles will be distributed through local partner, Stewart’s Automotive Group.

According to Gordon, the first set of vehicles to be introduced to the market will be from a Chinese manufacturer, Build Your Dreams (BYD). BYD is the fourth largest manufacturer of electric vehicles by volume and is projected to become number one by the end of 2022.

“They’ve been in the electric mobility space and the battery business for over two decades and they have supplied major manufacturers including Toyota, Honda, Ford and Tesla,” Gordon said.

He said the vehicles are being tested in both public and private commutes, with the goal being to fine tune the products so that they are ready for Jamaica’s retail market. 

Eventually, the CEO noted, the company will offer EVs from different manufacturers. As for the product range, he said they will offer everything from subcompact cars, luxury cars, motorcycles to commercial vehicles, with prices ranging between JM$6-14 million.

“It’s one of those things where we are building a portfolio of products that we think will suit the marketplace and we’ll be introducing them as the market develops,” Gordon said.

He noted that while Jamaica is Flash Motor’s largest market, the company will also be conducting across the Caribbean. 

According to Escofferey and Gordon, since 2018 they have been working with JPS to build out Jamaica’s electric mobility infrastructure. They noted that they have assisted in the design and implementation of public charging ports throughout the island. 

On the issue of charging ports, the men said that Flash Motors will continue to work with local partners such as JPS to have more ports established.

Escoffery noted that at full charge, BYD EVs can go up to 500km before the battery runs out. This should be able to take you from Kingston to Negril and back (Negril is 218 km away from Kingston).

Escoffery said that the company is aiming for at least 100 vehicle sales for the first year; however, the focus is on ensuring that the vehicles are tested and ready for Jamaica.

“This year is really about testing the vehicles, so we’re not gonna have a full year of sales. We wanna ensure that the product is Jamaica ready and by the 2nd/3rd quarter we’ll really start to ramp up sales,” he said.

He noted too, that sales will depend on vehicle availability adding that there is usually a strong SUV market, especially for first vehicles.

Recent policy changes by the government may also help EV sales.  This month, Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke announced a duty reduction from 30% to 10% for up to 1000 EVs imported into the island each year.

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