DOE proposes free charging for e-vehicles

MANILA, Philippines — To further encourage motorists to shift to electric vehicles (e-vehicles), the Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday proposed that the government offer free charging stations for e-vehicles.

“Free charging is something that we should seriously consider. Based on our studies, other jurisdictions were able to jumpstart that with government taking a more proactive role in having and offering free charging facilities, at least at the onset,” DOE Director Patrick Aquino said during a Senate hearing.

The Senate on Monday tackled different measures in the chamber that seeks to give incentives to those who will shift to electric vehicles, namely Senate Bill No 174 or Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations Act; Senate Bill No. 472 or the Green Vehicles Incentives Act; Senate Bill No. 479 or the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles Incentives Act; Senate Bill No. 538 or the Green Vehicles Incentives Act; and the Senate Bill No. 638 or the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Incentives Act.

The DOE said that it wants to have incentives for the use of electric vehicles under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation ACT, with the addition of Value Added Tax.

For non-fiscal incentives, Aquino said the DOE wants to highlight free charging, free parking, exception from number coding or any traffic management scheme and five-year registration.

Meanwhile, the Department of Finance (DOF) said that the establishment of free charging stations, including for electric vehicles, was already listed in the 2017 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). /je