Stakeholders of the electric vehicle (EV) industry are pushing anew for the grant of more incentives from the government as they welcome reports that the local assembly of electric motorcycles will start its mass production this coming June.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has earlier released a report welcoming an agreement signed on May 1, in the United States that would jumpstart the manufacturing of e-motorcycles in the Philippines.
The report said that Filipino-owned firm Integrated Micro-Electronics (IMI) has signed a cooperation agreement with American company Zero Motorcycles for the assembly here of e-motorbikes and sub-assemblies of batteries and motors.
As the stakeholders greeted with enthusiasm the report that local mass production of electric motorcycles will start next month, they also appeared hopeful that the inclusion of two- and three-wheelers in the EV import tariff break would be made effective sooner than the scheduled review of Executive Order No. 12 early next year.
In a related development, several prominent figures from the EV industry also greeted the report with optimism and called for the inclusion of e-motorbikes in the import tax break provided for under EO 12.
Professor and Fellow for Education of Stratbase ADR Institute Louie Montemar stressed the need for the inclusion of e-motorcycles in the executive issuance, stating that EVs can be an alternative mode of transportation amid the rising prices of gasoline.
Furthermore, Stratbase ADR Institute President Dindo Manhit said the review of the EO is needed as its current version is “unfair.”’”
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian also reiterated that usage of EVs should be pushed forward through the enactment of the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) as a solution for the various increase in oil prices.
In an update released by the Presidential Communications Office, the collaboration between the IMI and Zero Motorcycles amounts to $65 million, which can be used to support the country’s electrification of transport.
The deal is also expected to provide jobs to almost 200 workers for the assembly line, manufacturing, packing, and shipping of 18,000 EVs per year.