9th PH Electric Vehicle Summit to tackle acceleration of electro-mobility adoption

MANILA: The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) again partners with the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) and Department of Energy (DOE) to stage the 9^th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit (PEVS) on August 26 and 27.

The virtual conference aims to promote electric vehicles in the country. EVAP works together with the government and industry stakeholders to move toward the modernization and electrification of public and private transport.

With the theme “Accelerating the Switch to Electro-Mobility in the Philippines,” the conference will serve as a platform for policy dialogue and exchange of knowledge, experiences, and best practices to accelerate the adoption of electrified mobility in the local transport sector.

“This year, we are convening key stakeholders from the public and private sectors as well as the civil society to discuss policy issues and solutions in accelerating the adoption of electro-mobility in the country,” EVAP President Edmund Araga stated. “Accelerating the switch to electro-mobility can only take place with synergies of the government providing the enabling policy environment and infrastructure combined with the eager participation from the private sector in innovating electric vehicle technology solutions, facilitating technology transfer, and offering financing options. For its part, the civil society can help educate consumers about the benefits of e-mobility.”

Based on EVAP’s observation, the adoption of electro-mobility in the local transport sector is very slow as compared to other ASEAN countries like Thailand and Singapore. One of the key indicators of this analysis is the dismal modernization of public jeepneys into environment-friendly vehicles. According to the Department of Transportation, only 18,000 jeepneys across the country have been modernized as of June 2020. This is only 9% of over 200,000 registered public jeepneys.

“According to the latest Global EV Outlook of the International Energy Agency, there was a strong momentum in electric vehicle markets despite the pandemic. There were 10 million electric cars on the world’s roads at the end of 2020, following a decade of rapid growth. Electric car registrations increased by 41% in 2020, despite the pandemic-related worldwide downturn in car sales in which global car sales dropped 16%. Around three million electric cars were sold globally (a 4.6% sales share), and Europe overtook the People’s Republic of China as the world’s largest electric vehicle market for the first time,” Araga stated.

He enumerated the factors that explain the resilience of global EV sales amid the pandemic. One of these is the supportive regulatory frameworks that other countries have developed even before the pandemic. These frameworks fortified key policies like CO2 emissions standards and zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates. In 2020, over 20 countries had either implemented a ban on the sale of traditional cars or directed all new sales to be ZEVs.

Araga has also observed that the additional purchase incentives in European countries helped strengthen the EV sales in the face of the pandemic. He also cited that the growing number of EV models and the battery cost reduction significantly contributed in the strong global EV sales performance.

“We need to step up our efforts to achieve our goals for rapid EV deployment and to do this, government and private sector need to collectively reaffirm their commitment to do so,” Araga said.

This year’s PEVS will also feature the symbolic signing of stakeholder Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the switch to electro-mobility by 2025. Representatives from key government agencies, the academe, civil society, and EVAP will join this activity to reassert their commitment to expedite the transition to sustainable mobility.

Policy dialogues about technologies and solutions will be tackled on the first day of the summit. On the second day, the state of industry and market development will be discussed.

The upcoming conference is the second PEVS that will be conducted virtually. The first online edition of the summit, which was held last year,  had set a record for having the most number of government leaders partaking in discussions about electrified mobility in the new normal.

The 9^th PEVS is made possible by Phillip Morris Philippines, Nissan Motors Philippines, and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines.

To sign up for the 9^th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit, log on to evap.com.ph.

Photo from Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines

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