Here' the result of the recent
Electric Vehicle Summit.
Electric vehicle industry needs the infrastructure and more
Manila,
Philippines - The recently-concluded 3rd Philippine Electric
Vehicle Summit showed that putting the electric vehicle into the mainstream of
the Philippine auto industry needs a lot of things, foremost among them the
infrastructure and the technology. Add to that some incentives for those
pioneering in this sunshine industry.
Rommel Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the
Philippines (eVAP) says that to be able to do this, we have to plant
the seeds now. “Together, let us all help in removing all road blocks and
collectively help to facilitate, if not even accelerate, the growth of the
Philippine EV industry”.
One of the biggest roadblocks is technology. Nilo Pena of the DOST-PCIEERD pointed out that science and
technology initiatives are now sadly lacking in infrastructure such as advanced
materials testing laboratories, auto parts & components testing facilities
and vehicle research and testing laboratories. These they hope to be able to
provide in the future.
Mr. Toru
Tokushige, president of Terra Motors agrees
and cites that a very important factor in EV success is the battery,
specifically on the need for new technologies to reduce its cost while
enhancing battery life and performance and the way it is charged.
This is the reason why Meralco has developed an EV charging station that
is both a showcase and a technical pilot. “We want to prove that the charging
and use of electricity for vehicles is doable and feasible. We are thus pilot
testing both regular and fast-charging technologies”, says Tonichi Agoncillo, EV Project Manager of Meralco. “We are even
pioneering the use of electronic digital meters that could measure up to the
watt-hour level, thus electricity could then be dispensed on a ‘sachet’ basis
for as low as P1.00. Corollary to this, Meralco is also advocating for the
adoption of the NEMA L6-30 twist-lock connector to safeguard against accidental
disconnections while charging”.
In his keynote address, Sen. Bam
Aquino said that he fully supports the need to help the fledgling EV
industry. He promised to file a bill granting full incentives and another one
giving non-fiscal incentives for EV industry players in the Philippines. The
week after, in keeping with his promise, Sen. Aquino filed Senate Bill Nos. SBN-2150 and SBN-2151 entitled Electric, Hybrid and Other
Alternative Fuel Vehicles Promotion Act of 2014. “We expect that
if these bills are passed into laws, there will be less air pollution, more
jobs generated both in upstream and downstream industries and we will have a
greener country”, he said.
Department
of Energy Usec. Loreta Ayson says that the DOE fully supports the fiscal and
non-fiscal incentives for the EV industry. “We want the EV industry to develop
fully and fast so we are currently spearheading the ETrike Project. However, we
believe it also has to be complemented by the proper infrastructure in place.
The industry must be supported by a nationwide after-sales service in terms of
parts and labor, 5-year warranty on parts and components and free trainings for
the drivers, technicians and partner LGUs”.
“If investor incentive is needed, then we will see
if this can be accommodated in the Investments Priority Program for 2014” says Gov. Lucita Reyes of the Boards of
Investments. “We are now consulting the different industries as we aim for
a sharper focus on preferred economic activities, on activities that will fill
in the supply chain gaps. The incentives may vary per sector or per project.
The validity is going to be three years. However, right now all fiscal
incentives are being reviewed and rationalized to ensure only those that are
relevant to the current needs will be retained”.
Auto parts making and vehicle assembly, two of the important sub-sectors
of the EV industry, also want in. Ferdinand
Raquelsantos, president of both the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association
of the Philippines and EV assembler Philippine Utility Vehicle Inc.
outlined the different fiscal incentives the industry would like to have, such
as income tax holidays plus exemption from the payment of excise tax, duties
and VAT. “It would also help if the EV industry is given non-fiscal incentives
such as priority in vehicle registration and franchise registration, exemption
from the number-coding scheme and free parking in new establishments. He
explained that in exchange for these, some of the gains would be carbon credits
due to emission reduction, dollar savings from oil imports and savings from
pollution-related health expenses”.
And health is indeed of primordial consideration in the EV industry. Engr. Vizminda Osorio, director of
Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources in Metro Manila explains that 70% of air pollution comes from
mobile sources such as cars and PUVs. “The negative effect is that air
pollution results in 2,000 deaths of Filipinos each year and that number
increases every year. Today, more than 9,000 Filipinos are affected by chronic
bronchitis every year because of dirty air”.
“That is why it is very important for the NGOs, academe and private
sector to formulate a comprehensive mainstream strategy to incorporate EV as
part of mobility planning and the urban transport planning process” says Dr. Danielle Guillen of the Partnership for
Clean Air and the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability.
All these developments, says Juan, are the reasons why he thinks the
recent EV Summit was a huge success. “It was able to bring major EV industry
players in the Philippines and in the region under one roof. In subsequent
business-to-business meetings, they were able to share their best practices,
some forged business alliances and others have crafted ways to work together
for the advancement of the local EV industry. Hopefully, we can all work
together to make the Philippines the EV manufacturing hub for the Asean
region”.
But the best news capping the EV Summit probably came from Jay Huang of TECO Taiwan. He divulged
that TECO plans to invest Php300.00 million in an EV assembly plant in Subic to
serve the rolling chassis requirements for the ETrikes and EJeepneys of its
local partner, PhUV Inc. and other EV assemblers. These rolling chassis or even
the electric vehicles themselves can then be exported to other countries in the
region.
Inspired by these successes, the Electric Vehicle Association of the
Philippines also launched an ambitious project: one million electric vehicles
in the Philippine roads by 2020! The object is to sell and put on the road
about one million EVs by the year 2020, be they 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers or
4-wheelers.
