THE electric vehicle (EV) industry is hoping the government will keep fiscal and non-fiscal incentives in place through 2040, arguing that sustained policy support will be needed to keep the country’s shift to electric mobility on track.
Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) Vice President and AC Mobility Holdings Inc. Mobility Infrastructure Head Carla Buencamino said last Friday that the industry welcomed a bill filed by Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian seeking to extend existing incentives for electric vehicles and introduce additional benefits for EV users.
‘We really need to keep these incentives there. Because our targets go as high as the DOE’s (Department of Energy) targets extend until 2040,’ Buencamino told reporters at an event in Makati City.
Senate Bill 2270 proposes longer incentives and lower import costs for the electric vehicle industry. The measure seeks to extend the validity of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under Republic Act 11697, or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (Evida), to 12 years from the current eight, while removing import duties on electric vehicles and related equipment and infrastructure.
‘For the industry, we hope that the incentives will last until 2040 so that people can continue to grow and adapt to electric vehicles,’ Buencamino said.
The Marcos administration aims for EVs to account for 50 percent of new vehicle sales by 2040.
According to Buencamino, support should cover the wider EV ecosystem, not just vehicle ownership, including charging infrastructure and power generation.
‘So it’s also the charge; it’s not just the cars, right?’ she said. ‘We have the charging stations, we have our power generation, and all of the ecosystem for the EVs.’
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Also, Buencamino said, the ideal scenario for the industry is extending the tariff-free treatment, which continues to engage government agencies on policies affecting EV adoption.
Now, the government is urged to lead the EV transition by increasing its adoption of electric vehicles, given its role as a major vehicle procurer.
‘The government needs to do its share,’ she said. ‘For the government to be the first to do the adoption itself, because even the government, they are a large procurement body.’
Government adoption, Buencamino said, could demonstrate the viability of the technology and encourage greater uptake by the private sector.
WHILE policy support remains a key concern, EV infrastructure providers are also dealing with practical hurdles that can slow the expansion of charging networks.
ACMobility had more than 500 public charging points as of July, while its charge points accounted for more than 45 percent of the DOE’s registered charging stations nationwide after excluding battery-swapping systems, which do not apply to cars.
Buencamino said differences in permitting requirements among local government units remain one of the challenges to faster deployment. ‘At this point, as with anything new, there are still some challenges with the processes,’ she said.
Some LGUs require documentation that may not be requested elsewhere, adding time to the process of securing permits and opening charging stations to the public, she explained.
‘It just lengthens our overall process to be able to complete a charging station and to open it up to the public,’ Buencamino said.
A more streamlined permitting system would allow providers to expand faster and help build a broader charging network.
‘If we want to go for high numbers, we’re really hoping to have this streamlined process,’ she added.