The isolated British Overseas Territory of St Helena, 1 900 km off the south-west coast of Africa, has wrapped up its first public electric vehicle (EV) charge point trial. 

This is the latest step in a plan for the tropical island, made famous as the final place of exile for Napoleon and home to 192-year-old tortoise Jonathan, to switch almost entirely to sustainable power and zero-emission transport by the end of this decade.

Global car manufacturer Subaru and Norwegian EV charger brand Easee collaborated with the St Helena government to test the feasibility, reliability and adaptability of EV use on one of the most remote inhabited islands on the planet.

The trial, lasting two months, featured an Easee Charge unit being installed next to the island’s museum in the capital, Jamestown.

The charger was connected to the St Helena grid by island power provider Connect St Helena, and was used to charge an electric Subaru Solterra, which was then put through its paces across the island.

With only four EVs currently in use on St Helena, and none of them the latest generation in EV technology, a 2024 Solterra was transported on the regular monthly supply ship to the island for the trial.

A whole day of driving – totalling around 80 km across the entire small island – used no more than 20% of the battery capacity.

The undulating roads meant the battery could also be recharged using the vehicle's regenerative braking technology on downhill sections.  

St Helena already has a wind farm and a solar array, providing up to 25% of the island’s power needs.

The rest is generated by a diesel power station, using £5-million of fuel shipped from South Africa each year. However, the St Helena government aims to have 80% of the island’s power generated by wind and solar by 2028.  

“We're excited to be a partner in this project to bring in an electric car and an electric charger, and to install it as a public charging station in the remotest place in the world,” says St Helena Treasury and Economic Development Minister Mark Brooks.

The Easee charging point will remain on St Helena as part of an expanding charging network being installed for a small fleet of electric cars being imported for tourist and islander use this year.

The St Helena government incentivises the import of low-emission vehicles for residents, and, with the move towards increasingly sustainable power generation, the potential is for this British Overseas Territory to become one of the first territories in the world to have a zero-emission automotive footprint.

“The next step is to roll out the infrastructure so that we are using EVs more and more on the island,” notes Brooks. 

“There are a lot of diesel and petrol vehicles primarily, and we want to change that behaviour and start to use more EVs.”