DOE asks ADB to lower cost of e-trikes to make them affordable

Published November 14, 2016, 10:01 PM By Myrna M. Velasco
http://business.mb.com.ph/2016/11/14/doe-asks-adb-to-lower-cost-of-e-trikes-to-make-them-affordable/

The Department of Energy (DOE) has asked the approval from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to lower the cost of electric tricycles (e-trikes) that shall be rolled out to underpin the country’s electric mobility agenda.

“The problem with the e-trikes, this program came way too expensive and the funding scheme of ADB had been questionable. But that’s already there, so we wrote ADB how can we move forward,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters. The DOE submitted its letter to ADB last week.

He said the energy department is basically asking the ADB to lower the cost of the e-trikes that are already scheduled for deliveries, so it becomes affordable to the operators and it would also turn out a viable income-proposition for drivers.

“We need to resolve that, the concern is how can we make it affordable, to make the cost lower,” Cusi said, adding that such had been the primary contention they raised with the bank.

The energy chief expounded “the problem there is affordability for the operators. If there are takers, we can continue to promote that… but we cannot just be reckless and say: You have to avail and then we cannot support our action, that’s not fair!”

Beyond rollout of the pending 3,000 e-trikes of which contract had already been awarded to a private operator, Cusi noted that the business model they have been looking at is to advance the installation of charging stations.

The department looks at the experience of Mandaluyong City, and such provides the basis for the proof-of-concept that they will firm up to bring forward the commercial scale rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Philippines.

“What we are trying to emphasize here is that: People are not buying electric cars because there are no charging stations. So our plan will be to install the necessary charging stations all over the country,” he said.

The transport sector is also labeled massive contributor to energy-linked carbon emissions, thus, sharp focus is equally set on carmakers when it comes to reducing their fleets’ adverse impact on global warming. This particular sector is seen responsible for a quarter of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions and this is expected growing to a third by 2050 – faster than any other industry – mainly due to the expansion of car-buying segment of the world’s population especially in emerging economies.

Aside from deployment of electric vehicles, the other part of the equation in reducing the transport sector’s carbon footprints will be the deployment of fuel-efficient technologies. The private sector is seen as formidable ally of government in achieving that goal.