EVAP: PH electro-mobility adoption 'very slow'

The leadership of the Electric Vehicle Association Philippines (EVAP) claimed that the country’s adoption of electro-mobility is relatively slow compared to some counterparts in the region.

In a statement, the group, led by its President Edmund Araga, said that the local transportation sector’s transformation to electro-mobility is “very slow” when matched against ASEAN neighbors like Thailand and Singapore.

Indicative of the pace, EVAP shared, is the “dismal modernization of public jeepneys into environmentally friendly vehicles, noting that of June last year, the Department of Transportation reported that only 18,000 jeepneys across the country have been modernized—out of over 200,000 registered public jeepneys.”

EVAP President Edmund Araga said that based on the newest Global EV Outlook of the International Energy Agency, there was a strong momentum in electric vehicle markets despite the pandemic.

“There were 10 million electric cars on the world’s roads at the end of 2020, following a decade of rapid growth. Electric car registrations increased by 41 percent in 2020 despite the pandemic-related worldwide downturn in car sales in which global car sales dropped 16 percent. Around three million electric cars were sold globally (a 4.6 percent sales share), and Europe overtook the People’s Republic of China as the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market for the first time,” Araga explained.

Araga attributed the strong EV sales despite the pandemic to the following:

• Supportive regulatory frameworks

• Additional incentives to safeguard EV sales from the economic downturn: some European countries increased their purchase incentives and China delayed the phase-out of its subsidy scheme.

• The number of EV models expanded and battery cost continued to fall.

“We need to step up our efforts to achieve our goals for rapid EV deployment and to do this, government and private sector need to collectively reaffirm their commitment to do so,” Araga said.

In August 27-28,  EVAP will be hosting the 9^th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit, aiming anew to open the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and best practices to stimulate the adoption of electro-mobility in the local transport sector in support of the government’s drive towards a low carbon economy.

“This year, we are convening key stakeholders from the public and private sectors as well as the civil society to discuss policy issues and solutions in accelerating the adoption of electro-mobility in the country,” Araga said.

“Accelerating the switch to electro-mobility can only take place with synergies of the government providing the enabling policy environment and infrastructure combined with the eager participation from the private sector in innovating electric vehicle technology solutions, facilitating technology transfer, and offering financing options. For its part, the civil society can help educate consumers about the benefits of e-mobility,” he added.

Photos from Nissan in the Philippines, Electric Vehicle Association Philippines (EVAP), Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation

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