By Alden M. Monzon @AldenMonzonINQ
Amid the growing threats brought about by climate change, coupled with the rising price of gas – which more often than we would like, outpaces the occasional rollback – it is getting more and more evident that changes in the way we travel today has become necessary.
Local electric vehicle firms are presenting the industry as an answer to sustainable living and can serve as a solution to rising concerns about climate change.
“Carbon emissions from fuel-burning vehicles are a great contributor to greenhouse gases. Remember how Metro Manila air suddenly cleared up and became fresher during the height of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020? That can be achievable even without lockdowns if only more of the cars running on our roads are electric vehicles,” said Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) president Edmund Araga. “The good news is that electric vehicles are here. It is always great to hear when more and more responsible businesses put up EV recharging stations,” he added.
Improving availability of charging stations
Earlier this week, Ayala Land began an initial roll out of 20 fast-charging stations across Luzon as a response to meet the growing demand in the charging needs of local electric vehicle owners.
“This is the largest roll-out yet of (electric vehicle) charging stations in the country,” Ayala Land president and chief executive officer Bobby Dy said, citing that it was a special milestone for them.
These charging stations will be located at the different Ayala malls across seven cities in Luzon.
Ayala Land’s initial investment equips these stations with 22-kilowatt alternating current (AC) and 60-kilowatt direct current (DC) fast chargers to accommodate the wide range of electric vehicle types currently in use in the Philippines.
“We are expanding this program to more key locations, energizing sustainable transport faster and further in the years to come,” said Dy.
The growing use of electric vehicles
Citing data from Statista, Araga over a thousand electric vehicles were sold overall in the Philippines this year as of August, which he said was an improvement compared to 843 in 2021 and almost 400 in 2020.
Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) also paints a clear picture of how these more environmentally-friendly vehicles are gaining ground in the Philippine market.
Sales data from the auto industry association shows that electrified vehicles — which includes hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – went from having a .02 percent (86 vehicle units) share in 2019 to a .31 (810 units) percent share in 2021.
Its market share is projected to reach a 1.68 percent (2,246 units) share by the end of 2022, illustrating the exponential growth in the patronage of this more environment-friendly generation of automobiles.
Rising oil prices
Araga also said that it was time to shift people’s attention to the local electric vehicle industry with the recent move of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to control daily oil production to adjust prices in their favor, a measure which is expected to have far-reaching ripple effects.
“There is no other better time than today. Why? Because fuel prices are accelerating in the world market, which of course, is affecting us here in the country. The outlook is not good,” Araga said.
The EVAP official said this problem is compounded by equally volatile foreign exchange movements, which includes the continuous weakening of the Philippine peso against the U.S. dollar.
“Crude supply can dwindle and even totally run out in the foreseeable future. But electric energy is here to stay. We hope we can stop being too reliant on fuel in the near future so that no matter how oil producers want to manipulate supplies and prices, no matter what conflict arises in the Middle East, Europe, or elsewhere, we all could move forward,” he said further.
As of the last week of October, gas stations in Metro Manila sell gasoline from P60 to P82.15 per liter and diesel from P70 to P89.25 per liter according to the price monitoring of the Department of Energy.
