The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines plans to replace two of the country’s mass transportation systems with electricity-powered jeepneys and e-trikes to help reduce fossil fuel consumption.
EVAP president Rommel Juan said the Philippines probably had the most potential for electric vehicles Southeast Asia, especially for public transport applications such as jeepneys and tricycles.
“We can see that once electric vehicles move to the mainstream level in the Philippine mass transport system, we will be looking at supplying the replacement vehicles in the large domestic market of 350,000 diesel-fueled jeepneys and 1.2 million gas-fed tricycles,” he said.
He noted business opportunities in modernizing the aging and ailing mass transport system and replacing them with electric jeepneys and tricycles.
“And with a large production volume, we can then have the economies of scale to become the manufacturing hub for electric vehicle and parts in the Asean region. This we hope will then open up the Asean region as the staging point for subsequently exporting to the other parts of the globe,” Juan said.
The group is coordinating with Asean counterparts in order to get the key players in the region to participate in the first ever Asean Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Summit on June 29 to 30, 2017 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
The event is being co-organized with the Board of Investments and Manila Electric Co.
The summit will be part of the Asean National Organizing Committees series of events for 2017 since the Philippines will host the 50th anniversary of Asean.
The Board of Investments is supporting the event, which aims to promote the use of electric and hybrid vehicles in the region, spur local manufacturing and assembly and promote foreign investments.
Member companies will feature the latest electric vehicles and EV technologies in the country as well as hybrid vehicles from the local automotive manufacturers and assemblers.
“We are now traveling around the Asean region to invite our Asean counterparts to the summit, for them to exhibit their latest products and technologies and to share their best practices with us. It is the perfect opportunity for us in the Asean to unite and promote EV applications so that together, we can make a better and cleaner world for the next generation,” Juan said.
