Philippines Targets 1 Million Electric Vehicles on its Roads by 2020

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rommel Juan, the president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, said that the country plans to put 1 million electric vehicles on Philippine roads by 2020.

Speaking at the Third Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit in Pasig City, he said: "The Philippines is at the center right now. We can be the hub for electric vehicle production in the region."

He said that the 1 million-vehicle target was not impossible, because it included two-wheelers like electric bikes and electric motorcycles, as well as electric tricycles and e-jeepneys.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Department of Energy (DoE) are about to finalize a project to replace 200,000 conventional tricycles with electric versions. The five-year project will see 100,000 electric tricycles, or e-trikes, used country-wide by the end of 2017.

The DoE will announce the winner of the public bidding for the first 3,000 e-trikes in the next few weeks. "The e-tricycles will be distributed all over the country, starting with 500 in Mandaluyong City, 500 in Manila, 500 in Tarlac, and others," said ADB principal energy specialist Sohail Hosnie. The DoE will coordinate with local government units, local industry players, and associations of tricycle operators and drivers to make this happen.

Juan said that the biggest driver for the use of e-vehicles is cash savings. A motorist saves up to 80% on the cash that would be used to put gasoline in the tank. An ADB study shows that regular trike drivers spend $5.60 a day on fuel. Using an e-trike would bring that down to $1.10, which is the cost of charging the battery for about two hours that would allow the trike to travel 40 kilometers.

A new model on the market has regenerative brakes that convert kinetic energy to electric power, adding energy to the battery every time the driver brakes.

Overall in the sector, the savings on fuel is a consolation for the relatively high prices of e-vehicles.

For related information, see April 25, 2013, article - Analysts Ponder Status of Electric Vehicles in 2035.

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