SM Supermall, the country’s largest shopping mall chain, signed an agreement with technology start-up QEV Philippines to put up electric vehicle charging stations around the country starting February 2018.
“The installation of EV charging infrastructure will support the proliferation of the EV industry as well as aid QEV’s mission to reduce carbon emissions and make use of a more sustainable source of energy in order to have cleaner and greener cities,” QEV Philippines said in a statement.
The signing with SM Malls followed QEV Philippines and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.’s agreement to put up ABB e-vehicle fast chargers at Shell gasoline stations starting December.
The agreement with Pilipinas Shell calls for an initial 100 pilot sites for the e-vehicle charging stations, with an initial 10 sites by December.
QEV Philippines, the joint venture between Filipino and Spanish business partners Endika Aboitiz and Enrique Banuelos, plans to put up more than 200 EV fast-charging stations nationwide with the help of location partners such as SM, before 2022.
“SM mall-goers may have access to these charging stations to plug in compatible e-vehicles as early as February 2018,” the company said.
QEV Philippines general manager Audrey Peñaranda said the first charger would be installed at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
“The other locations are still being identified. We are looking at a minimum of 100 charging stations with SM,” Peñaranda said.
QEV Philippines earlier said one of the main reasons for the slow uptake of electric vehicles in the country was the lack of supporting charging infrastructure.
QEV Philippines aims to promote a sustainable solution for healthier, cleaner cities by reducing the amount of carbon emissions in the air brought about by transportation.
“With the growing problem of climate change, QEV seeks to spearhead the green electromobility movement in emerging countries such as the Philippines,” it said.
The company proposed the conversion of an initial 50,000 jeepneys over five years (or 10,000 jeepneys per year) by replacing diesel engines with lithium-ion batteries.