E-vehicle industry gains momentum, seeks more gov’t perks

The electric vehicle industry in the country is bustling, but players yesterday batted for tax and duty-free privileges to encourage more local production and sustain growth momentum.

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez in a speech delivered by Board of Investments Governor Henry Co at the opening of the 6th Philippine E-Vehicle Summit cited the industry’s growth.

There are 30 active e-vehicle players locally with investments of half a billion pesos and production capacity of 80,000 units a year from major players Bemac, Phil Etro and PHUV. The industry is capable of producing a wide range of electric vehicle products, including ebuses, e-jeepneys, e-trikes and e-cars, he said.

According to Lopez, new players have also entered the market and adding new capabilities. These include QEV Philippines which is set to put up and operate fast-charging stations for EVs in major areas in Metro Manila, and neighboring areas. Meanwhile, Le Guider International is also capable of manufacturing e-cars, e-jeepneys, and e-trikes locally. The government through the BOI is offering both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the Investment Priorities Plan which lists the manufacture of industrial products, including motor vehicles and its parts and components among the preferred activities for investments.

Through Executive Orders 156 and 877-A, which covers the Motor Vehicle Development Program, imported parts and components for the assembly of motor vehicles have been reduced to 0-1 percent. In addition, EO 488 provides zero tariff for EV components, parts and accessories for the assembly of hybrid, electric, flexible fuel and CNG motor vehicles.

The industry, however, has batted for more incentives to sustain the growth momentum.

Rommel Juan, president of the EVehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP), stressed during a press conference at the opening of the summit at the SMX Convention Center that most e-vehicle production in the country involved e-trikes.

BEMAP, he said, has already produced 3,000 e-trikes of which 200 have been deployed in Marawi. Some 300 other e-vehicles have also been produced.

But, Juan also stressed that 15,000 units of e-vehicles have been imported annually from China in the past couple of months. For e-cars, the industry is still awaiting Nissan’s Leaf; Mitsubishi’s i-miev and Outlander.

“2018 is the tipping point,” said Juan as he batted for the removal of tax and duties to fast track the introduction of completely built up e-vehicles into the country and encourage local production.

The E-Vehicle Bill is still being debated in Congress that is expected to provide special incentives to e-vehicles, including non-fiscal like free parking and exemption from number coding among others.

EVAP Chairman Ferdinand Raquelsantos noted that there is no local production yet of chargers, electric motors, controllers and batteries.

Raquelsantos said they would like greenlanes for the process and registration of e-vehicles.

On top of these perks being contemplated under the bill, Raquelsantos also called for rebates of $2,000 for individual buyers of e-vehicles noting that other countries grant $6,000 rebates for e-vehicle buyers.

Rene Lampano of the Mitsubibishi Motor Philippines Corp. said the removal of taxes and duties to an e-car could reduce the price of their units to an estimated 11.4 million from 11.9 million. He said that the TRAIN Law slaps as much as 50 percent on imported e-vehicles.

Dax Avenido of Nissan Philippines said they are still discussing when to launch their e-vehicle in the Philippines and Indonesia, which would be the first in the region.