DOST-EVAP PARTNERSHIP PRODUCES PH’S 1ST LI-ION-POWERED E-JEEPNEY
The jeepney, the so-called “kings of the road”, just had its lightbulb moment. It’s not about this ubiquitous mass transport vehicle being transformed into an electric vehicle. That has been done before, and there are already a number of e-jeeps (or e-buses, however you see them, already plying the traffic-congested streets of my home city Las Pinas).
The big innovation this time is that e-jeeps are now juiced up with better batteries—lithium-ion—that are supposed to last longer and be more energy dense than conventional lead-acid batteries.
Just this Monday, I was able to test drive a lithium-ion-powered, Class 2, 23-seater prototype e-jeepney inside the posh Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City. It wasn’t much of a looker, no surprise there. But being actually behind the wheel of one excited me still. I’ve seen EVs that looked truly futuristic and glamorous. But they were all made by countries decades ahead of us in their EV industry journeys, and priced astronomically. This e-jeepney is proudly Philippine made, and it bears the welfare of my kababayan commuters at heart.
The two main differences from earlier designs are its expanded seat capacity (from the conventional 16-seater to 23-seater) and the use of lithium-ion batteries instead of deep-cycle lead acid batteries. The battery comes with the BMS (battery management system) and vehicle control unit.
It was simple enough to operate. The dashboard panel consists of a button to open and close the side door, an emergency button that disables the vehicle, and a stick shift with D (drive), N (neutral), and R (reverse), and the conventional LED display that shows speed and remaining range.
To start the vehicle, the driver must first step on the brakes before turning the key. The vehicle accelerates adequately (though I was driving it with no passengers), and brakes well and evenly.
The test drive happened just after the Department of Science and Technology held its press conference, wherein DOST Secretary Fortunato T. Dela Pena led the ceremonial inauguration of the country’s first-ever 23-seater e-jeepney. He was joined by the department’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, project leader Edmund Araga (president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines), Evap executive director Manny Biona and Evap chair Ferdinand Raquelsantos.
The project was conducted by a group of researchers from Evap and Tojo Motors Corp, with funding from the DOSTPCIEERD Grants-in Aid Program amounting to P4,991,000, which Evap disclosed was spent for project research and development, including the design, prototyping, fabrication, and testing of the unit.
The upfront cost of producing this e-jeepney ranges between P2.2 million and P2.3 million.
“The battery cells are imported from China, but the modules are assembled locally. That’s the advantage of having a local manufacturing plant, as the team was able to innovate its own setup in terms of the modules,” Araga said.
Tojo Motors, for its part, has supplied its own e-jeeps in General Santos. More than 200 of such e-jeeps have been deployed.
Araga explained why his team decided to switch to Liion batteries: “Over time, we saw that lead acid was not viable for public transportation because the cycle time was too small, and the range distance was not so impressive, unlike with Li-ion, which (dispenses energy) smoothly, has better mileage, and the cycle
time is higher.
Li-ion can last up to five years, depending on how you charge and store.”
Though using Li-ion batteries may have jacked up the up-front cost of the e-jeepney, down the road, the cost of ownership would ultimately be lower, its proponents assert. Compared to its conventional diesel-powered counterparts, e-jeepneys are more expensive up front, due mainly to the batteries. But in the long run, the savings add up and outweigh the initial cost of the EV.
Biona said, “If you combine the energy cost and the maintenance cost, and compare it with that of ICEs (internal combustion engines), you save around 30 percent in operating cost.”
The e-jeepney project is under the government’s PUV modernization program, which endows a “5-6-7” subsidy-cum-financing plan for those who would avail of the units: P160,000-subsidy (as announced by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board), 5-percent equity, 6-percent interest rate, and 7 years to pay.
70% local supply
Araga disclosed that the e-jeepney is “almost 70 percent locally supplied and sourced. The ones that we import are batteries, controllers and motors. The rest are locally fabricated, or sourced out to small and medium suppliers.”
Araga said the Philippines could potentially manufacture its own Li-ion batteries, but the raw materials need to be processed thoroughly, and that would require substantial capitalization.
In this light, Paringit stressed that the DOST has been supporting the battery development and storage program spearheaded by the Advanced Battery Technology Resource Center for Research of the Technological Institute of the Philippines and University of the Philippines.
At the moment, this e-jeepney will be offered via “indent ordering”. Biona explains that with indent ordering, “the vehicle hasn’t been mass produced yet. You won’t be able to bring down the production cost. Indent ordering means you order just one or two units at a time. It all starts with the demand. If the demand is created, the local industry will be able to mass produce, and the cost will be lower.”
Perhaps the key to electrifying the Philippine transport industry lies with the masses, and the mass transport system. As the Teslas do their thing with high society, let the e-jeepneys do the heavy pulling. I wouldn’t mind “plugging down”, er flagging down, an e-jeepney like this and going for a ride in complete peace and quiet.