Marcos wants more electric vehicles on roads

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he wants the Department of Energy (DOE) and other government agencies to put more electric vehicles (EVs) on the road.

In Malacañan Palace, Marcos held a meeting with DOE officials and other government leaders to discuss how to develop the local EV industry.

READ: EV sales revving up, hit more than 10,000 units in 2023

“President Marcos has instructed the concerned agencies to work together to study the integration of the EV industry so that we can strengthen the local manufacturing of electric vehicles and supporting battery charging mechanisms,” said Palace briefer Daphne Oseña-Paez.

In October 2023, Marcos said he hoped to see EVs take up at least half the road. Months later, the DOE said it is recalibrating its target for EVs from 10 percent to 50 percent.

READ: Bongbong Marcos eyeing mostly e-vehicles on PH roads by 2040

“We want to achieve a higher number of, instead of having a 10 percent target by 2040 for the penetration of the e-vehicles, we have to go forward and look into a 50 percent target,” said DOE Usec Felix Fuentebella.

According to Fuentebella, only 0.001 percent of registered vehicles on the roads right now are EVs.

While the DOE official admitted that EVs are initially more expensive, the operational costs become cheaper.