Back in the seventies, the first Marcos government had this grand dream of setting up a so-called New Society. The plan, composed mainly of socio-political reforms, envisioned a renewed nation and people. One of the highlights of this experiment, say the elders, was how discipline became the norm.
But we all know how all that turned out
I mention this as I conclude a two-week visit to China, where I am writing this column. After observing their mobility in Shenzen and Wuhu, one glaring fact was clear: electric mobility is actually a thing.
Shenzen is the home of BYD, arguably the world’s largest electric vehicle maker. Aside from its global aspirations in the EV stage, BYD has secured a solid foothold in Shenzen’s electrified mobility space. The taxis I rode on were all the BYD E6, a battery-electric 5-seater hatch. The buses on the road were also BYD electric buses. And everywhere you go in Shenzen, you’ll spot an EV. We even rode the brand’s in-house elevated electric mass-transit solution, the SkyTrain.
BYD isn’t alone in this electrified New Energy push. Tesla, Chery, the GAC Aion, and many homegrown EV brands dot the cityscape. Omoda and Jaecoo, my hosts for the second week, are also gearing up for EV variants of the models it will introduce in the Philippines.
Even in the realm of personal mobility, e-scooters are the norm here. You’d be hardpressed to see anything but.
Which leads us to this question – can we do the same? Is our society ready for a wholesale adoption of EVs?
Now, this mobility transformation didn’t happen overnight. And it is also evident that China’s Communist Party-run
society had little say in what the government mandated. But let’s look at the benefits first before we judge.
Cleaner air
Undoubtedly, one of the most glaring results of the shift towards New Energy vehicles, as China calls its electrified mobility strategy, is the cleaner air in its cities. Twenty years ago, smog was one of the nation’s biggest problems. Today, it is ours.
In recent weeks, the smog induced by vehicles plying the metropolis has settled into a thick, acrid layer of emissions trapped at ground level by what our scientists call thermal inversion. Never in recent
memory have we experienced such a phenomenon. And while anti-EV zealots are still in denial, vehicle emissions will continue to affect our health and cost us millions, if not billions, of pesos in healthcare and longterm social impacts.
Quieter environment
Bustling is often used as an adjective for cities, but it gets to a point when the buzz becomes more of congestion and noise pollution than anything else.
Imagine our roads made quieter, less noisy, and calmer because of electric mobility. In Shenzen, you won’t hear these e-scooters coming. And since most riders use the sidewalks to get around, one has to be mindful
of his surroundings, even when walking or crossing the street. But I think we’d still prefer that to bearing with noisy car and motorcycle mufflers.
Less money wasted
Vehicles idling in traffic always will have one obvious casualty – our wallets. You see, every time you’re stuck in traffic in an ICE vehicle, it wastefully consumes fuel. Fuel that would have otherwise run the engine and propelled the car to its destination.
With EVs, it’s the reverse. The more you idle in traffic, the less electricity your car consumes. Plus, you don’t burn off your hard-earned money, not going anywhere. Sure, an EV’s range suffers when driven on long highways, but how often do you do that in a month if you work in the city?
Unfortunately, we are not China. Most of our leaders can’t even comprehend beyond the need to stuff their bank accounts with the people’s money, much less to care for their constituents’ welfare or the environment they will leave to future generations.
Love them or hate them, China’s government had enough foresight to fix their problem. We, on the other hand, will spend more time complaining and pursuing our selfish agendas, using the democratic tools of free speech and the almighty Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to halt initiatives no matter how beneficial they are to the greater population.
Their leaders saw the need to provide for the electricity needs of its industries and its growing population. We settle for the government’s noble declarations on sustainability and self-sufficiency that will undoubtedly change every six years.
Going electric, if that’s the intended direction, will take more than just orations. It will take action and resolve, especially in the face of unending criticism and pontificating by the “learned.”
Since we are in a democracy, let the market forces decide where our mobility journey will head. Just remember this: majority rule wins.
