Firm importing electric buses
By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 08:09:00 05/01/2011
Filed Under: Environmental Issues, Road Transport, New Products, International (Foreign)Trade
MANILA, Philippines?Daring the huge risks in investing in an infant Philippine electric vehicle industry, transport firm Green Frog Zero Emission Transport is bringing in 38 electric buses within the year.
Green Frog director Philip Go Apostol told reporters the company plans to roll out the first 10 electric buses within the third quarter of this year.
The buses will initially ply a route that goes along Buendia from Edsa to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx). Eventually, they will be available to commuters within the whole of Makati.
Apostol said the project is being jointly undertaken with Makati City and should it prove to be successful, the company would operate 3,000 electric buses within seven years? time.
He admitted that the cost of bringing in these buses was ?high.? He added, ?But we?re hoping that the government would work with us.?
Green Frog is seeking tax perks, among other incentives, and a pioneer status from the Board of Investments, to make the project economically viable.
Apostol did not disclose how much the electric buses will cost but said that normally, the bigger electric buses cost $300,000 (P13.5 million) each. Green Frog?s buses, which will be sourced from China, will, however, be smaller and would cost less.
The company has already begun negotiations with commercial banks and government financial institutions for the best financing package. Green Frog is also seeking some guarantees from the Philippine Export Import Credit Agency (PhilExim) to get lower interest rates.
Green Frog?s electric bus will have a capacity of 36 passengers, 16 of them seated. Fares would be initially pegged at P8. According to Apostol, half of the revenues will be coming from advertising income to help keep fares at reasonable levels during the initial roll-out.
The government has begun to advocate more aggressively for the use of electric vehicles to ensure a sustainable, environment-friendly and energy-efficient transportation system in the country.
Emissions from the transport sector currently represent 30 percent of all pollution in the country, and about 80 percent of air pollution in Metro Manila. A sizeable proportion of vehicle emissions is attributed to inefficient public vehicles, particularly tricycles, jeepneys and buses.
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