Some Shell gasoline stations will now cater battery charging stations for electric vehicle (EV) users before the end of 2017.
The first 10 of the initial 100 stations will be installed by December this year, upstart firm QEV Philippines – the project initiators – said.
“Electric vehicles have been around in the country since 2008. The country started with electric jeepneys that plied the Makati Green Route back in the industry’s inception,” the company said in a report.
The establishment of the first EV charging infrastructure network in the country will attend to the lack of supporting charging infrastructure here, QEV said.
The company added the lack of supporting charging infrastructure is one of the reasons of the slow uptakes of EVs in the country.
The charging posts will be supplied by the ABB – a Swiss company that specializes in robotics power and automation technologies.
Meanwhile, the Aboitiz Power Corp. will be the supplier of renewable energy for the charging stations.
In July, QEV launched “green jeepney” with the aim to replace diesel jeepneys with e-jeepneys through partnerships with local jeepney manufacturers.
The company is proposing to covert an initial 50,000 jeepneys in five years – 10,000 yearly beginning in 2018.
They are eyeing government assistance to convert the first batch of jeepneys to e-jeepneys estimated to cost P6 billion, starting next year.
WEV Philippines is a partnership between businessmen Endika Aboitiz and Enrique Banuelos.