Motoring Today Column

Sep 11, 2019

Gas, diesel, or electric. Those features will be among the choices that buyers will soon consider when making a decision on their next car.

That may not be too far away. At the 4^th Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) Forum , Dr. Rafaela "Fita" Aldaba, undersecretary for Innovation and Competitiveness of the DTI, discussed the government's roadmap for the development of the automotive industry. She said "EV is among the top priorities of the Philippines new Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (I3S)."

The SPMJ Forum was co-presented by the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID), led by its president, Ma. Fe Agudo, who is also thePresident and CEO of Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI).

The forum is also part of AVID's Landscape series of talks, a semi-annual political and economic briefing which aims to provide a full assessment of the current environment for the automotive business.

The major factor that is driving this move is pollution. Vehicle emission contributes 69 percent to the air pollution problem in the country. And 90 percent of that pollution comes from Metro Manila, according to a recent study by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The comprehensive plan for the EV market which was discussed by Dr. Aldaba was an eye-opener. Most of us only see the limited presence of EVs through public transportation but not very much in the form of private vehicles. There's only the Toyota Corolla Altis, a hybrid EV, that was launched recently in the local market.

As of December 2018, theDepartment of Trade and Industry (DTI) said there are only 4,362 registered EVs in the Philippines; and only 83 companies are in manufacturing or importing EVs, parts, or selling EV cars.

The Filipinos are eager to buy an EV. According of a survey of Frost and Sullivan in Southeast Asia, which showed that 46 percent of Filipinos are "eager" to buy an EV.

In that survey, the Philippine market took the top spot, followed by Thailand, 44 percent;Indonesia, 37 percent; Malaysia, 33 percent; Vietnam, 33 percent ; and Singapore with only 23 percent.

Many may not be aware of the progress of the EV program. At the SPMJ Forum, Dr. Aldaba mapped out the many bills, incentives, and projects which are now in place to provide support for the EVs when more those these vehicles will enter the Philippine market.

Dr. Aldaba calls it "developing an EV ecosystem" which includes the promotion of EV manufacturing and the building of charging infrastructure around the country.

Incidentally, a survey among motorists around the ASEAN region revealed the the biggest factor that worries them if they should buy an EV is the range of the battery, or the distance that one fully charged battery would take them. This anxiety would be solved if there are more charging stations accessible to the motorists.

Dr. Aldaba's presentation showed that from the present19 charging stations, it targets to open 200 charging stations by 2022.

That will definitely expand the EV market which today is only being defined by the public transportation network composed of e-buses, e-tricycles, e-jeepneys, and e-cars. Meanwhile, the E-trike project will deploy 100,000 units nationwide to replace traditional gasoline-fed tricycles.

Giving incentives to car buyers and manufacturers is part of the government program.

Dr. Aldaba acknowledged that "incentives are crucial to change the behavior of market players and promote demand for xEV and private investment across the value chain."

For manufacturers, among the incentives that are in the planning board are the removal or reduction of tariffs; incentives for parts and components; excise duty or vat exemption for equipment and parts.

For car buyers, the basket of incentives include priority in registration and issuance of plate numbers; exemption from the "coding" scheme; free parking in commercial establishments; provision of space for charging stations; annual vehicle registration exemption and three year registration interval.

Meanwhile, bills to support the EV program have been filed, some of them passed into law. Among these are the Clean Air Act that will phase out Euro 2 and Euro 4 vehicles ; an executive order on zero tariffs for EV components and parts for assembly of hybrid, electric, flexible fuel and CNG motor vehicles.

There was an interesting discussion on the development of the EV battery, the tariff and duty packages, and the direction of the EV programs.

As part of AVID's Landscape series of talks, the SPMJ Forum was graced by the presence of VIPs in the automotive industry who are members of AVID - Suzuki president Keiichi Suzuki, HARI officials led by Edward Go and Conrad Marty, Ford executive Josie Gonzalez. The event was ably organized by Raffy Ledesma, Hyundai's Corp. Comm. Head.

SPMJ is an organization composed of motoring journalists in print, broadcast, and digital media. The SPMJ Forum is held quarterly and focuses on issues affecting the automotive industry and the mobile lifestyle.

Happy Motoring!!!

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