Big Next-Level Push Needed By Local Electric Vehicle Industry
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
May 24, 2012, 10:04pm
MANILA, Philippines — The electric vehicle industry in the Philippines,
being a sunrise industry, needs one big push to bring it to the next level.
This is the assessment of Rommel Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle
Association of the Philippines (EVAP), the organization of EV
stakeholders in the country.
"Despite various initiatives, mostly by the private sector, we still are
not exactly there yet. We still need advancements in EV technology, the
right infrastructure specifically charging stations, better batteries
and faster-charging technology and most importantly, government support
in terms of incentives not only for the manufacturers but for end-users
as well", he says.
Initiatives in electric vehicle in the Philippines were first seen in
the early 2000s when enthusiasts started converting AUVs and tricycles
to full electric EVs. Different technologies and configurations were
experimented upon. A few electric bicycles from China were also brought
in. Very little progress was made however and the demand was nil.
It was in the late 2000s when significant developments were seen. With
some NGOs and LGUs at the forefront, electric jeepneys, motorcycles and
scooters were brought into the country and tested. The Motor Vehicle
Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP) was
commissioned to locally design, develop, fabricate and assemble the
electric jeepney.
Ferdi Raquelsantos, president of both MVPMAP says that today, eJeepneys
can be found in Pasig, Quezon City, Cebu, Bicol, Los Baños, Cavite,
Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Batangas, Palawan, Ilocos region, Boracay and
other urban areas. "And we continue to locally design and assemble
eJeepneys to a niche market of transport and shuttle service operators",
he says.
"The eJeepneys used in the Makati Green Route is the first eJeepneys to
receive the orange EV license plates from the LTO. It was also the very
first mass transport EV operation to receive a franchise from LTFRB," he
adds.
Many initiatives on the use of other EVs such as the electric tricycles
(eTrikes) were also undertaken in Taguig, Surigao, Puerto Princesa,
Boracay and Mandaluyong. Meralco and a few other companies tried out the
electric quadricycle (eQuad), a four-wheeled version of the tricycle but
with a steering wheel. Just recently, Victory Liner brought in the very
first electric bus (eBus) into the country. Collectively, there are now
about 400 EVs all over the archipelago.
This year, one of the most important developments in the EV industry is
the availability of a funding of $450 million from the Asian Development
Bank to finance the replacement of conventional tricycles into eTrikes
starting with Metro Manila. There are about 3.5 million tricycles in the
Philippines, with about 200,000 of them concentrated in Metro Manila.
The first phase of this ADB eTrike program aims to replace about 50,000
of these gasoline-powered tricycles into eTrikes.
But Juan says that despite all of these private-sector initiatives, the
local EV industry still does not have what it takes to be globally
competitive. "Our technology is still limited. We need to have
faster-charging batteries coupled with a suitable fast charging
technology and the compatible battery management system. We need to
improve the EV mileage per full charge. We also still have not applied
the regenerative braking system, among other things. More importantly,
we still do not have the much-needed infrastructure in place such as
charging stations in public areas. We still need to do a lot of things
and this is where we badly need government support in terms of
incentives for EV investors, manufacturers and end-users", he says.
"We at EVAP are elated that Congress has recently passed a bill on
alternative fueled vehicles, granting incentives to manufacturers and
buyers of AFVs, including EVs. A counterpart bill sponsored by Sen.
Ralph Recto is now being deliberated on in the Senate and we do hope
that this bill will be approved in the soonest possible time, especially
now that the legislative year is drawing to a close. This is the one big
push that the local EV industry has long been waiting for to bring it to
the next level," Juan adds.
He says that it is in this light that the local EV stakeholders recently
banded together to form the EVAP. "We want to be the voice of the EV
industry. As a collective force, we will try to push for vital
legislations that the EV industry needs to move on at a faster pace. As
of now, we represent about 90% of the EV industry stakeholders – the
manufacturers, assemblers, importers, suppliers, dealers, the academe
and even plain enthusiasts", he adds.
Juan said that EVAP is confident that although the Philippines does not
currently lead the region in EV technology, it has made giant steps in
terms of market development and product acceptance. "We are now at the
crossroad, we need to take advantage of the momentum derived from our
various individual and collective initiatives to get maximum results. If
we play our cards right and we have full government support, we can be
the hub of EV supply in the region," he concludes.
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