Motorcycle ride-hailing firm Angkas is in talks with local and Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers to expand its fleet as it pilots its new car-hailing service, AngCars, targeting small entrepreneurs.

“Right now, we just rolled it out. We are doing our own pilot test, and the results are good. What our focus really is (having) more EVs on the road,” Angkas co-founder and chief executive officer George Royeca said in a chance interview with reporters last week.

“We have been working with a lot of vendors in China and in the Philippines so that we can roll out a much larger EV fleet. Our focus, really, is EV,” he added.

Royeca said Angkas already has a few thousand EV units deployed, but admitted the fleet remains too small to significantly influence the broader ride-hailing market.

Angkas is positioning AngCars as a lower-cost alternative to existing car-hailing services while opening the business to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Royeca said the company targets to attract small entrepreneurs who can operate fleets of three to five vehicles, offering a potentially more accessible entry point than traditional franchise businesses.

“What we want are cheaper fares; we will bring down the price and also we want to make sure that we focus on MSMEs,” he said.

The pilot is currently limited to Metro Manila, with provincial expansion already in the pipeline.

“Right now we are in Metro Manila, but of course we are opening into other provinces as well,” Royeca said.