The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) is urging the government to put up a financing program for the country’s electric vehicle (EV) industry instead of discontinuing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) $500-million e-trike program.
EVAP said the e-trike program has put the county on the global EV map and cancelling the project will only hinder the industry’s growth.
In a position paper, the group asked the government to establish a “Green Financing Program” where government financial institutions can serve as loan pipeline to provide operating funds for EV players.
“This could be administered by either the DOTr (Department of Transportation) or the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) whose functions are more attuned to the conditions under which the e-trike program will be implemented,” EVAP president Rommel Juan said.
“This will not only help preserve our environment but generate new job opportunities, bring in foreign investors, reduce our dependence on fossil fuel importations thus saving us precious dollars and generate additional taxes for the government as well,” he added.
DOE Chief Alfonso Cusi recently announced the agency is discontinuing the e-trike program under the $504-million joint EV program with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) due to high costs of units and lack of charging stations in localities.
EVAP said the EV industry is already flourishing in the country, noting the projects in Bacoor, Boracay, Cavite, Mandaluyong, Makati, Muntinlupa, and Naga, as well as Filinvest City and Ateneo de Manila.
“All of these simply prove that Electric Vehicles already work, can be mass-produced locally by local technicians, engineered by Filipino engineers and are therefore already available locally in commercial volumes,” Juan said.
*Photo from the DOE website