By
Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) |
Updated December 4, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has defended the agency’s decision on cancelling
the electric tricycle (e-trike) program, which saves government from incurring
more expenses and from disrupting the electric vehicle (EV) industry’s growth
from non-economical projects.
The energy chief said
the first 3,000 e-trikes will be honored but the rest of the 100,000 EV program
would be called off to avoid accumulating more expenses on the part of the
government.
He said there are no
takers for the 3,000 e-trike units because the initial cost and maintenance was
too steep for operators and charging stations in the targeted areas for
deployment were still lacking.
“The DOE is supportive
of the e-trike project. We’re just making sure it is economically viable for
the operator. We just don’t like to be ordering something which will not be
purchased (by operators),” he said.
Last week, the Electric
Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) urged the government to
reconsider the cancellation of the DOE’s e-trike program and put up a financing
program with other agencies to support the EV industry.
Should the government
not proceed with the cancellation of the project, the EV industry stands to
suffer more since it is not economically viable, Cusi said.
“The EV industry’s growth will be disrupted.
If the government will support a project that is not viable, then that will
really be a problem for them,” he said.
As it stands now, the
3,000 e-trikes are still in the warehouse of Japanese electric vehicle maker
Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc. because there are no takers.
In February, Bemac
bagged a $30-million deal to produce 3,000 e-trike units under the joint
project of the DOE and ADB. This means the cost per e-trike unit amounts to
$10,000, equivalent to P474,800 each based on current foreign exchange rates.
These
units were supposed to be rolled out in Metro Manila, Region 4-A and Region
4-B, as earlier stated during the bidding.
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