The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (eVAP) is forecasting 200,000 units of electric vehicles (EV) sold in the next six years, translating to around P1.68 billion on services sales.

“The world is shifting towards sustainable energy and we can say that electric vehicles are the future. In the Philippines, our projection is an annual growth rate of 8 to 12 percent per year and with this we should start talking about how we can utilize opportunities in this growing market,” eVAP president Edmund Araga said.

At present, there are about 7,000 registered e-vehicles for local use in the Land Transportation Office, but Araga said this could scale up to around 12,000 this year, the majority of which are e-trikes since it’s the more affordable, hence the more convenient option for deployment.

Araga said the replacements do not necessarily have to be EV so long as they are compliant with the Euro 4 emission standard.

The association has an ongoing venture in the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) modernization program, but demands are also seen in other regions where e-vehicles were already introduced aside from Metro Manila, Araga said.

The PUV modernization program under the Department of Transportation aims to replace 240,000 public utility jeepneys with more environmentally-sustainable options, 10 percent of which will be electric jeepneys.

Araga said the replacements do not necessarily have to be EV so long as they are compliant with the Euro 4 emission standard.

But the demand for EV can only be sustained if the supply of batteries is met.

Companies under the eVAP, at present, only import batteries from sources such as China and Korea due to the lack of battery infrastructure to supply the e-vehicles in the country.

“Right now there are only a few who supply to our members. We’re trying to make some noise to further enhance it,” Araga told reporters during the signing ceremony of the partnership between them and the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP).

But should the batteries be locally manufactured, Araga said its price should drop significantly given that the cost of the battery already takes half the price of an EV.

Meanwhile, the association is banking on the initiative between them, the PNIA and the ECCP tackling the future of the nickel industry in a conference to open doors for leveling up the EV battery infrastructure in the country.

Battery technology, which has nickel among its components, remains the sector’s main challenge, Araga said.

The conference, scheduled on 18 to 19 March, will gather players in the nickel mining industry as well as those in the infrastructure, electronics, information and medical technology.