Alternative Fuel Vehicles bill pushed

October 21, 2015 9:55 pm by RITCHIE A. HORARIO

Electric vehicle (EV) players are pushing for the enactment of a pending bill that is expected to jumpstart the industry.

The Alternative Fuel Vehicles Bill, separate versions of which have already been approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives, still needs to be passed by a bicameral panel, Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) President Rommel Juan said.

The proposed law, among others, will provide incentives such as lower tariffs and fee exemptions for the manufacture, assembly, conversion and importation of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.

Mr. Juan said the measure would expand the Philippine market for electric and hybrid vehicles.

“EVAP has done a lot for the industry but it continues to strive to further develop the industry and to finally leapfrog electric vehicles into the mainstream of the Philippine mass transport system,” he said in a statement.

EVAP Chairman Ferdinand Raquelsantos said most of the organization’s members are pioneers in the sunrise industry.

“These are businessmen-advocates who have persisted despite the snail-like pace that the EV industry has experienced and is experiencing in terms of uptake. They believe in the technology, that one day, it will prosper to the level where it should be,” he said.

Raquelsantos said the domestic EV industry started in 2008 when electric jeepneys were first introduced in Makati.

“Developments were slow until interest was sparked once again in 2011 when the Department of Energy and the Asian Development Bank introduced an Electric Tricycle funding program,” he noted.