It's not hard to imagine what the residents of Manila in the year 1904 felt the moment they saw the Richard-Brasier, a motorized carriage powered by a nine-horsepower, two-cylinder engine, which was the first car to be driven in the country.

For the Richard-Brasier's rich owner, owning it must have been a novelty, even probably like an expensive "toy" worth bragging about since it was outrageously expensive and that time, shipping one from Europe took about three months.

People might have also wondered if they would see more of this "toy" since riding horses, horse-drawn carriages, and steam-powered (later electricity) trams were, for the longest time, the convenient means of moving around the city and outlying towns that were cheap and relatively safe.

More than a century later, the market felt the same sense of fascination when PGA Cars brought in the Taycan in 2020. It was thrilling to see Porsche's first-ever full-electric, four-door sports car roaming our streets for the first time. Many wondered how they could afford this almost P19-million zero-emission vehicle that could cover 416 km on a single charge.

The introduction of the Taycan in the Philippines was a watershed moment because two years later, the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act or Republic Act 11697 would lapse into law, attracting more EV manufacturers to bring in their latest models — not just the exorbitantly pricey ones but also those that are least expensive — and provide Filipino auto buyers with more choices.

To help the EV industry, the law made sure that EV importers would get tax incentives and discounts while those who would buy EVs would enjoy perks not only when registering with the Land Transportation Office but also when using our roads since EVs are exempted from the number-coding scheme until April 2030.

Breakout

The year 2023 was indeed a breakout year for EVs in the Philippines as numerous manufacturers entered the market including BYD, the world's fastest-growing electric vehicle manufacturer, and Tesla, maker of the Model Y, which is now the world's bestselling car (beating the likes of Toyota Corolla and the RAV 4 despite being priced almost double).

The consumers' previous concern, the "range anxiety" or the worry about the adequacy of their vehicle's battery charge to complete a journey has largely subsided, as it's now common for EVs that can travel over 300 km on a single charge. Even the limited availability of charging stations is now being addressed thanks to the EVIDA law.