EVAP: Phl EV shift speeding up

The country’s electric vehicle story is getting louder and more visible, and this year’s Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit aims to capture that momentum. Now on its 13th run, the summit will take over SMX Convention Center in Pasay from 23 to 25 October, bringing together major brands, startups, and charging players for a weekend of talks, demos, and test drives. Expect names like BYD, GAC, Omoda & Jaecoo and UAAGI’s stable that includes BAIC, Chery, Foton and Lynk & Co, along with two-wheel and accessory makers.

EVAP president Edmund Araga says local adoption is rising for practical reasons that ordinary buyers feel. Pump prices keep moving. More brands are offering EVs at different price points. Government rules are nudging companies to start buying. That mix helped push four-wheeled EV sales to 3,880 units in 2024, nearly triple 2023’s 1,028. Battery electrics led the way at about three in every four sales, with hybrids close behind and a small share from plug-in hybrids. Two- and three-wheelers surged as well, hitting 43,441 units last year from a tiny base the year before.

Under the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry, the country aims to deploy about 7,300 charging stations by 2028, build up to 20,400 by 2040, and support as many as 2.5 million EVs on the road by that time. What complicates things is who pays. Public funds are not earmarked to build or run chargers. The plan leans on private groups such as mall operators, hotels, condos, resorts, and even car brands to carry most of the load. EVAP points to the EVIDA law’s language that taps private sector muscle to grow new industries and jobs, while the state sets the rules and direction.

On the manufacturing side, the country made a small but symbolic step. In late 2024, a lithium-ion battery plant opened in Tarlac under StB Giga Factory. At full tilt, it targets production for up to 18,000 EV batteries a year. It is early days, but it signals that local supply chains can form around clean energy and transport if investors see a stable market.

Registrations also tell a story that buyers beyond the usual brands are joining in. LTO data for the first seven months of 2025 show 28,095 new electrified units recorded across cars, utility vehicles, and SUVs, a figure that already outpaces some industry tallies that only track member brands. In the National Capital Region alone, registrations are split almost evenly between full battery electrics and hybrids.

For everyday drivers, the picture is simpler. There are more EV models to try. More places to charge. Clearer rules on fleets. Rising sales of scooters and bikes that can skip the gas station entirely. The gaps are still there, mostly around charging outside big cities, and who shoulders the cost to expand the network. But the direction is set, and the people building the industry want Filipinos to see that progress up close at the summit.