Clima Mobility, the newest member of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, does not fit the profile of a regular association member.
It is not backed up by a big manufacturing company or a foreign partner or funded by a foreign multinational company. Clima Mobility is a product of an intense passion for automobiles and for the love of the environment.
It was founded by Adonis Lagangan, a 1994 mechanical engineering graduate of Mapua Institute of Technology. At a young age, Lagangan had an intense passion for automobiles. He dreamt of one day designing and assembling his own electric car. To acquire the needed funding, he worked as an overseas Filipino worker in coal-fired power plants around Asia as a project-based commissioning engineer for Marubeni Corp.
He says he was so passionate about pursuing his dream that between deployments, he honed his skills in forming and 3D Cadd designing. “I then worked to complete the design of the prototype of my dream electric car. I fervently hoped that one day, I will become a full-time EV manufacturer,” he says.
Lagangan got his wish. As soon as he had the chance to come home more often, he set up Clima Mobility and went about building the prototype of the electric car. This became his flagship product, an electric mini sedan he called Genius EV.
Genius EV has a seating capacity for five persons and is powered by a 10-kw, 72-volts brushless DC motor. Power is provided by 6-piece 12-volt, 120 ampere-hour Motolite batteries. It has a maximum speed of 75 kilometers per hour with a range of 60 to 70 kilometers after charging for four to five hours. He expects to sell the Genius EV for a suggested retail price of P450,000 to P500,000.
Lagangan’s plan is to offer the Genius EV to LGUs and other government agencies, corporate clients, taxi operators, and individuals.
“It can be used as a small electric taxi for Metro Manila, as a patrol car for the barangays, as a service vehicle for LGUs, government agencies and big companies and as a delivery car for logistics companies with the rear portion modified as an enclosed van. Even individuals who wish to save on fuel and help reduce pollution in the city will find the Genius EV the perfect solution,” Lagangan says.
“However, first, we need to gear up for bigger manufacturing prospects,” he says.
“Right now, we manufacture on a build-to-order basis. We need green financing to help finance our operations and an inventory of electric cars. Thus, we are now in search for grants and funding to build up our plant capacity. We are also open to partnership, whether local or foreign, for funding and technical assistance to improve our product,” says Lagangan.
EVAP president Rommel Juan says Lagangan and his Clima Mobility are now on level 1 and are on the right track towards bringing his dream up to level 2, which refers to the mass production of Genius EV. “At this stage, a little help from the government would be much needed because now, we have a mini sedan that we could proudly claim as Gawang Pinoy!”
