50 e-trikes deployed in Intramuros

The Board of Investments launched Thursday the P550-million Mobility as a System project in
Intramuros, Manila, the first of the three pilot sites where electric-trikes viability will be tested as
a mode of transportation.

BoI executive director for industry development services Corazon Halili-Dichosa said the project
was a grant from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization in
coordination with Japanese IT service provider SoftBank Corp.

“This pilot project will consist of 50 e-trikes that will be deployed within the Intramuros area
manufactured by Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc., with 17 charging stations
strategically located within the pilot site,” she said.

BoI, the Intramuros Administration and MC Metro Transport Operation Inc. as members
together with Nedo and Softbank will monitor the development of the project.

The project will run for two years, or from October 2016 to September 2018. Aside from being a
historic landmark and tourist spot, Intramuros was selected as pilot area for the project
considering the mix of people in the area which includes tourists and students.

Dichosa said the Philippines could be the EV manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia.

“We hope that more local and foreign investments will come and make the country their
production base, thus create around 100,000 in new jobs for Filipinos,” she said.

She said the government was currently looking at making the procurement of an e-vehicle
affordable through financing.

The Trade Department is working at a better financing window from the Development Bank of
the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines.
This would make it more sustainable for potential EV operators given the massive capitalization
needed to deploy at least 10 e-trikes.

BoI said there were different price points for an e-trike which could range from P350,000 to
P450,000 a unit. An e-jeepney, which is another project in the pipeline, is said to cost about
P850,000 a unit.

An e-trike can ferry about 6 to 8 passengers depending on the body mass. Passengers pay a
uniform amount of P20 per ride regardless of distance which is comparable to the “padyak” or
manual trikes that populates Intramuros and nearby areas such as Lawton and Port Area.

E-trike system project launched in Intramuros

VERONICA ROQUE
on October 21, 2016 at 3:25 pm

A system project was launched on Thursday to test the viability of electric trikes (e-trikes) as
a mode of transportation in Intramuros, Manila – one of the three pilot sites for the e-trike
project.

READ: E-trike charging stations rise in Manila’s tourist belt

“This pilot project will consist of 50 e-trikes that will be deployed within the Intramuros area
manufactured by Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc., with 17 charging stations
strategically located within the pilot site,” Board of Investments executive director for industry
development services, Corazon Halili-Dichosa said.

She added that the project was a grant from New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization and service provider SoftBank Corp, both from Japan.

The project is set to run from October this year until September 2018.

Intramuros, being one of the center of tourism in Metro Manila was chosen was a pilot area for
the e-trike project. It was also chosen because of the diversity of people in the area consisting of
tourists and students.

READ: Malate, Binondo, first beneficiaries of Manila e-trike program

EV HUB

With the Pilot project set, Dichosa said that the Philippines could be an EV manufacturing hub in
Southeast Asia.

“We hope that more local and foreign investments will come and make the country their
production base, thus create around 100,000 in new jobs for Filipinos,” she said.

The Trade department is currently working for a better financing window for e-vehicles from the
Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.

This would make way for potential EV operators to more sustainable e – vehicles given its
massive capitalization requirement.

An e-trike ranges from P350,000 to P450,000 per unit. An e – jeepney costs around P850,000 a
unit, BoI said.

Intramuros e-tricycle pilot project

launched with help from Japan

Posted on October 21, 2016

THE Board of Investments (BoI), with Japanese assistance, launched a P550-million e-

vehicle (EV) pilot project yesterday in a bid to boost an emerging industry that is still
relatively unknown to the general public.
The investment arm of the Trade department, has entered into a partnership with Japan’s New Energy
and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and SoftBank Group Corp. to operate 50
electric tricycles in Intramuros, Manila.

The electric vehicles, locally manufactured by BEMAC Electric Transportation Philippines, Inc., form a
pilot project which would test an IT platform developed by SoftBank Group Corp. The platform
functions as a cloud that keeps track of the performance of the vehicles, including how much battery
charge they have left.

BoI Executive Director for Industry Development Services Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa said that the
project would help assess weaknesses in the technology that may concern EV users.

“Through this project, we hope to further popularize the use of electric vehicles for public transport
and study how to address the concerns that may affect the vulnerability of the operations of potential
transport operators of electric vehicles in the country,” she said in her speech during the inauguration.

The project, which would run for two years from October 2016 to September 2018, would consider
expanding to other areas of the Philippines as well as in other countries like Indonesia and India
should the results of the initiative prove to be favorable.

This is part of a larger initiative in order to make the Philippines a manufacturing hub for electric
vehicles in the region. Ms. Halili-Dichosa said that the government plans to court more foreign
investors to persuade them to set up production here.

“We also hope to make the Philippines an EV manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia. We hope that
more foreign investments and partnerships with local investors would come and make the country a
production place for EV manufacturing.”

“Based on industry estimates, if we can have the Philippines as a manufacturing hub, we can generate
as much as 100,000 jobs. Therefore, going green makes sense.”

On the sidelines, Ms. Halili-Dichosa also said that the government is also considering to include electric
vehicles into other public modes of transportation.

“There’s another one we are working on. It’s e-jeepneys. Discussions have just started and we hope to
have a final agreement by next year with the Japanese.”

She said that discussions are with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), but details
of the project, such as the number of units to be produced or the location wherein it would operate,
are yet to be determined.

“For the e-jeep we are looking at relating it to the modernization of the jeepneys,” she noted.

In a statement that came with the launch, BoI said that there are over 30 firms engaged in the local
electric vehicles industry, employing over 10,000 individuals.

However, Ms. Halili-Dichosa said that the market will still need a lot of support to grow, citing factors
that currently restrict the industry from expanding at a pace that would match its ambitions of being a
manufacturing hub.

“We are still at the stage of how to make the acquisition of electric vehicles affordable,” she said,
noting that an EV’s battery accounts for about half of the total cost of the vehicle. -- Roy Stephen C.
Canivel