E-vehicle makers urge more foreign players to set up shop

MANILA, Philippines - The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) is encouraging more foreign investors to set up shop locally and make the country their electric manufacturing base in the region.

EVAP president Rommel Juan said the entry of Taiwanese electric motor maker Teco Electric and Machinery Co. Ltd. shows the growing potential of the Philippines for electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly among foreign players.

“The Philippine electric vehicle industry landscape continues to become even more vibrant with the entry of a foreign-based electric vehicle player with a local partner unveiling its new electric vehicle products,” Juan said.

Roteco, a joint venture between Texo and Filipino motorcycle dealer Ropali Corp., unveiled last week new models of an electric tricycle and an electric jeepney at its plant at the Subic Bay Freeport.

“Teco has facilities in Subic which will serve as its electric vehicle manufacturing base for the region. Since Subic is a freeport zone, this will also enable them to export electric vehicle units to different countries in the region,” Juan said.

“This definitely will be the start of brighter developments in the local electric vehicle industry. We hope more foreign investors will follow suit and bet on the future of the Philippine electric vehicle industry,” he added.

The Roteco E-trike model is a four-seater tricycle targeted to be offered to local government units to replace traditional tricycles.

The E-jeepney, on the other hand, is a 21-seater vehicle featuring a range extender to give the vehicle added distance for travel.

To support the Jeepney Modernization program of the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Teco Group said the new E-jeepney would be equipped with an intelligent transportation solution (ITS) for e-ticketing and GPS location tracking.

Teco CEO George Lien said the e-ticketing system would provide efficient fare collection and ensure passenger’s safety riding on the vehicle.

“ITS has the ability of smart payment and also GPS tracking in the control center to monitor the entire fleet operation, including location, time of route, speed, power consumption, powertrain conditions,” Lien said.

“We are contacting local banks and fleets to realize the whole information and cash flow,” he added.

Production of Roteco electric vehicles is expected to commence by January next year.