Buyers of e-vehicles may soon enjoy total exemption from the government’s number coding.
This is if the pending Senate Bill No. 2137 or the Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations Act, is approved, according to its sponsor Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
He said the exemption for number coding is just one of the advantages both motorists and the general public will have once the proposed measure is enacted into law.
For instance, he said promoting more e-vehicles to ply the road will make the country less dependent on oil imports.
More than 37.2 percent of the country’s total energy consumption can be attributed to the transport sector. Based on DOE’s database, the transport sector is also one of the major consumers of petroleum products, amounting to 25.72 percent of the total 75,370.50 barrels that were consumed in 2016.
Gatchalian also mentioned that data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that out of 8,081, 224 motor vehicles in the country, 8,039,233 are run by diesel and gasoline.
“At the same time we would reduce dollar outflows, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, create more jobs for Filipinos,” he was quoted in a Manila Bulletin report
All these benefits will only be possible once the proposed law paves the way for the creation of a comprehensive roadmap that aims to promote e-vehicles in the country.
“The advantages of e-vehicles…should be quantifiable, or else, it’s very difficult to convince people that this is actually beneficial,” he told the DOE.
The roadmap should, among others, require private and public buildings to have assigned parking slots with charging stations. It will also call for more e-vehicle charging stations.
“I expect the DOE – which is a much larger organization – should have that data. Hindi naman ho tayo puwede mag-promote nang wala ho tayong basis, (We cannot promote without any basis),” the senator pointed out.