The US-based Apl.De.Ap Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Legacy Eve LLC to train Filipino youth on e-mobility technologies at the sidelines of the two-day Presidential Trade and Investment Mission (PTIM) in Manila.
“We are asking the ADB to redirect us to the proper sector we need to work with. We’re gonna put some financing together,” said Apl.De.Ap Foundation founder Allan Pineda.
All parties are encouraged to explore opportunities to promote the advancement of e-mobility associated skill development and training programs to produce, service and operate e-mobility vehicles.
The MOU will identify suitable e-mobility solutions, including two/three-wheel vehicles, light-duty vehicles and public utility vehicles.
It will also develop outline business cases for each e-vehicle type, considering conversion costs and equipment, installation time and costs, and operating expenses to provide a lifecycle assessment compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.
The foundation plans to conduct pilot tests with select vehicle types while gathering data on implementation and operational costs to demonstrate the feasibility of e-mobility solutions and inform the potential for future expansion.
Apl.De.Ap Foundation executive director Audie Vergara said the foundation with the assistance of ADB and Legacy Eve would prepare a skill development curriculum for e-mobility training and development and associated training programs.
“We’re developing it right now, a curriculum made for the Philippines. We want to make that whatever happens in the US will be well-translated here. We’ll have a better understanding to that in the next two weeks,” he said.
The crafting of e-mobility curriculum will create the path to the formation of a center of excellence for e-mobility training and development.
The MOU also seeks to establish a medium-term framework for scale up actions on e-mobility solutions and associated training programs that would create the platform to enable trust, motivation and interest in e-mobility solutions among the youth.
Pineda said the partnership would identify priority locations for downstream scaling up on e-mobility solutions and training programs as well as develop a communication and awareness plan.
Apl.De.Ap Foundation is one of the 22 American firms that were part of the first high-level trade and investments delegation led by the US Department of Commerce.