Aboitiz Power Corp., the energy investment arm of the Aboitiz Group for energy-related ventures, targets to have all its vehicles run on electricity across all its power distribution businesses by 2040.
The company launched its corporate electric vehicle or EV fleet transformation program on Thursday, which aims to ramp up the use and development of EVs to reduce the dependence of the local transportation sector on imported fossil fuels.
It follows the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act or EVIDA mandating industrial and commercial companies to have at least a 5 percent share of EVs in their respective fleets.
"We aim to achieve 40 percent electrification for our four-wheeled vehicles and motorbikes by 2030 and finally transform and electrify 100 percent of the AboitizPower DU fleet by 2040," AboitizPower Distribution Utilities COO Anton Perdices said.
The EVs were manufactured by China-based Build Your Dreams or BYD and will soon be deployed to the three key cities of AboitizPower distribution utilities, specifically, Visayan Electric, Davao Light and Cotabato Light.
Efficient, reliable mobility
"With land areas more than six times the size of Metro Manila, these vehicles are geared to prove their efficiency and reliability in this new age of electric mobility," he noted.
Meanwhile, AboitizPower president and CEO Manny Rubio pointed out the program is also expected to positively contribute to the company's bottom line as the cost per kilometer traveled of a unit is at least half compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.
The EV fleet transformation program reinforces the demand for cleaner energy sources and aligns with AboitizPower's growth strategy of adding 3,700 megawatts of renewable energy to its generation portfolio in the next 10 years.
"As a leader in the energy industry, we want to incorporate innovations that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of our operations. The world is facing developments in climate change, global connectivity, population growth, urbanization, and digitalization, and these changes demand that businesses like ours transform to remain relevant," Rubio said.
AboitizPower currently has the largest and most diversified renewable energy platform in the Philippines in terms of installed capacity under its operational control.
Currently, close to 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects — including wind and solar farms and more geothermal capacities — are in the pipeline.
