DOE wants government cars shift to e-vehicles by 2040

The Department of Energy (DOE) launched the country’s first electronic buses (e-buses) Wednesday, in line with the Philippines’ goal of shifting to electric vehicles (e-vehicles) by 2040.

Under the country’s Comprehensive Road Map for the Electric Vehicle Industry, all government vehicles should be converted into e-vehicles by 2030. By 2040, all of them should be run by electricity.

The 47-seater e-bus costs around P29 million, which includes the charging station.  The price, however, is more than double compared to the regular bus.

“The Department of Budget and Management has issued a circular to the different LGUs that they can already acquire chargeable to their local budgets,” said DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla in Maki Pulido’s report on “24 Oras”.

Lotilla also said the government’s plan also includes the public and private transportation’s shift towards e-vehicles, with 10% of the bus companies’ fleets turning electric by 2040.

Mega Manila Consortium (MMC), a group of bus companies, welcomed the proposal but said there should be subsidies for the companies as e-buses cost almost twice their current bus units.

“Kung bibigyan kami ng gobyerno ng subsidy and then there will be an incentive or whatever ibigay ng gobyerno maayos yan e anyway its 2040 pa,” Juliet de Jesus of MMC said.

There are currently no talks about subsidies but the government has implemented incentives for the e-vehicle industry. Among these are the lifting of tariffs for e-vehicles, green routes or franchises, and exemption to color or number coding schemes.

“The next stage of course is to make sure that when one travels from Appari to Jolo or even short of that, there will be enough charging stations all the way,” said Lotilla.