Over the years, the Philippines has become one of the hubs for electricity and battery operated vehicles. The country’s e-jeepney is the very first in Asia. Today, these e-jeeps ply the Makati green routes (MGR) along Salcedo and Legaspi villages, Ateneo, La Salle, and Alabang.
Not only is the Philippines home to e-jeepneys, but it is also making headway with electric motorcycles, and seeing investments from both local and foreign manufacturers. Some e-trike companies have launched a rent-to-own scheme where tricycle drivers will pay an amortization of less than P300 per day for three and a half years.
The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines hope that by 2020 there will by a million e-vehicles in the country. The e-vehicles are a part of the solution to air pollution since they don’t produce carbon dioxide emissions, which is one of the major causes of anthropogenic climate change.
Automotive companies are also starting to sell their electric vehicles instead of leasing them. Among these are the Audi A3 E-tron, Audi Q7 Plug In, BMW X5 eDrive, BMW Series 3 Plug In, BYD Tang, Chevy Volt 2.0, E and C class Plug in, Mercedes Benz GLE, Mitsubishi Outlander Plug in, Rimac Concept One, Tesla Model S, Volvo S60 Plug In, Volvo XC90 T8, and the VW Passat GTE Plug in.
However, the claims that e-vehicles are the better option for the transportation sector is wrought with the argument that using battery operated vehicles do not necessary make these cars “clean” or “green” since they use electricity to power the machines, and not all sources of electric energy are clean.
Fossil fuels remain the largest source of energy for the country, and although renewables are making their mark through more investments in the country, it still does not make up enough of the country’s energy mix. The Philippine Energy Plan targets further exploration on petroleum and coal while also pushing for greener energy.
While e-vehicles are able to curb the problem wrought by the transportation sector, these developments have to be implemented as part of a bigger plan.