If your electric vehicle is not on the Department of Energy's list of "recognized EVs," don't expect to be exempted from the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or the number coding scheme.

Part of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act states that an EV should have at least one rechargeable energy storage — the battery pack — as power source that could propel the vehicle.

Last 3 November, the DoE issued an updated list of EV models that are not covered by the number coding scheme.

The list is a ready reference that traffic enforcers of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority now use in identifying whether the EV model that an apprehended motorist owns (e.g., if it is classified as a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle, battery "pure" electric vehicle or light electric vehicle) should be allowed on the road or not.

To encourage more Filipinos to own EVs, Republic Act 11697, also known as the EVIDA, has allowed the exemption of hybrids and pure EVs from the number coding scheme (a long-standing measure implemented to ease traffic in Metro Manila, which prohibits the use of vehicles on a specific day corresponding to their plate number).

Aside from the speedy registration processing that the law mandates, EV owners can also avail themselves of a discounted registration fee.

Master list

Under the DoE list, vehicle models are categorized into PHEVs, HEVs, BEVs and LEVs and classified further by their weight in kilograms.

EV car buyers can refer to this list — which is constantly being updated by the DoE — if they want to take advantage of the EVIDA's "perks." According to the EVIDA IRR, for an EV to be considered eligible, it must have at least one rechargeable energy storage (the battery pack) as power source to propel the vehicle.

Vehicles categorized under PHEV or HEV use two power sources: The gasoline engine and an electric motor that work in tandem or independently.