ELECTRIC DREAMS
Domestic EV industry faces new disruption
IT WAS A BIG DEVELOPMENT, but there was rather muted protestation when the present iteration of the Department of Energy (DoE) last month abruptly shot down the E-Trike Project initiated during the Aquino administration. No demonstrators took to the streets to burn effigies, wave placards, or loudly decry the move that effectively stymied a plan to replace 100,000 gasolinefueled tricycles with an equal number of electric ones over the course of five years.
Instead, the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP), composed of “some 50 institutions in the domestic EV [electric vehicle] industry comprising of assemblers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, suppliers and enthusiasts,” put out a statement imploring the agency to reconsider.
“There are so many proofs of concept now that show electric vehicles actually work in the Philippine scenario. There are ejeepneys running in Makati City, Muntinlupa City, Filinvest City and Ateneo de Manila, to name a few. There are already successful e-trike deployments in the cities of Mandaluyong, Bacoor [Cavite], Naga and Boracay... ( proving) that electric vehicles already work, can be mass-produced locally by local technicians, engineered by Filipino engineers and are therefore already available locally in commercial volumes,” said the group’s president, Rommel T. Juan.
Expected to cost $504 million, the project was set to be “largely financed” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF).
Along with job creation, it promised to save some 89.2 million liters of fuel a year, and cut CO emissions.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi claimed that canceling the program protected the government from added expenses of steep e- trike unit prices and maintenance costs. Only 3,000 out of the 100,000 total electric tricycles have been placed for bidding — won by Japan- based Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines, Inc. — with each unit fetching a tag of about $10,000. This deal with the company will be honored, but it stops there.
One thing is for certain: This threatens to curtail the wider adoption of electric vehicles — particularly in the public transportation sector notorious for aging clunkers and smoke belchers.
“The benefits of using electricpowered vehicles are gaining significant ground globally with EVs increasingly used in European countries as well as in Asia, with China leading the way — a move that will help given the level of air pollution in the country,” said EMotors CEO Elizabeth H. Lee, in an interview with BusinessWorld. The Filipino-owned company, named the Green Company of the Year at last month’s Asia CEO Awards, is the country’s first manufacturer and assembler of electric tricycles to be registered with the Board of Investment’s Motor Vehicle Development Program.
“An efficient public transport system is key to serving the needs of the commuting public. A shift to electric will have to be done strategically where it can be applicable with the least disruption to the current transport service being used. One opportunity is the shift from gas-fed tricycles to low-cost electric trikes backed by financing, political will, and LGU heads who are keen to promote sustainable cities,” Ms. Lee continued.
It appears the shift will still have to wait. At the last staging of the Electric Vehicle Summit in April, Mr. Juan admitted that even as the local EV industry remained bullish about prospects, they “still have to hurdle one major roadblock. We would be happier if there was more government support,” referring to “fiscal and non- fiscal incentives for local players.”
The conference’s guest of honor, House Committee on Transportation Chair Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, had clearly laid out the benefits of pursuing EV growth.
“A robust EV industry can generate 10,000 new jobs,” she declared in a speech, and continued that with just 10% EV penetration, the country will realize some P11 million in savings to treat pollution- induced cardio and pulmonary diseases. “It has been said that 100,000 e- trikes will [ prevent] 350 tons per year in carbon emissions… I believe that these environmental benefits should be highlighted. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, pollution, the rising population, and the steady flow of tourists demand environmental awareness.”
In view of the E-Trike Project cancellation and recent pronouncements of President Rodrigo R. Duterte (particularly pertaining to the Paris Agreement) the present administration appears to be retreating from its commitments aimed at reducing the country’s carbon footprint. The President nullified the pledge made by his predecessor to slash the country’s carbon emissions by 70% by 2030, even as he later softened his stand on rejecting the accord made within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Meanwhile, sought for a response to the DoE’s misgivings about the E-Trike Project’s feasibility, Mr. Juan told Business
World, “We don’t believe that the e-trike program is not economically viable. We’ve seen [ it] in other areas... It’s just a matter of how you implement it.
“We saw that even if the price is high, with proper financing, e-trike drivers are able to afford their units — as long as their daily income is stable.”
For now, as before, the local EV industry will continue to soldier on with or without state sanction, even as Mr. Juan is not giving up on the E-Trike Project.
“We will keep pushing for it,” he stressed. “But maybe ask the Department of Transportation or the Department of the Interior and Local Government to take over implementation since it’s more their area.”
There’s still hope in what Mr. Juan describes the “sunrise industry” of electric vehicles, but private sector obviously cannot go at it alone indefinitely. If EVs and other alternative-fuel transportation are to make significant inroads towards more mainstream acceptance, government needs to buy in and believe.