Ahead of its planned rollout, the Philippines' PHP 60 billion (US$ 958.2 million) incentive scheme for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers is facing pushback from a leading industry group, which questioned why the programme is focused on four-wheeled vehicles and excludes motorcycles and tricycles.

Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) president Willy Tee Ten said he was puzzled as to why two-and three-wheeled vehicles were left out of the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS).

Motorcycles and tricycles, Ten argued, are far more common on the country's roads than four-wheeled vehicles, which is why these models should also be given importance under the incentive scheme.

"We totally support local production. It brings more business, employment, et cetera. We are sure that we want to support it," Ten told the press. "The question is, is the EVIS enough support? Perhaps the support is going to the wrong place? If we can readjust it, there should be more consultation."

Through EVIS, the Philippines plans to incentivise the local manufacturing of battery, hybrid and plug-in hybrid EVs. Four slots are available, with each participating automaker allowed to field up to two models.

Easier to manufacture

But to qualify, manufacturers must invest at least PHP 5 billion and meet the production requirement of at least 10,000 units.

Ten said the minimum investment threshold already effectively counts out the production of electric motorcycles and tricycles, which are far cheaper to manufacture than their four-wheeled counterparts.

Rico Severino, founder and president of the Philippine EV Community, also argued that before aspiring to build a local manufacturing base for four-wheeled EVs, the Philippines should first start with motorcycles and tricycles, which have a simpler supply chain.

"If we locally produce EVs here, can we support the supply chain? Even the United States is finding it hard. They cannot even make their own batteries," Severino said. "Using Vietnam as an example should not even be the case. There should be mass transportation, two wheels, three wheels rather than four wheels."

Already, the Board of Investments (BOI) is finalising the implementing rules for EVIS, with applications expected to open by October. That timeline would allow participants to begin preparations and trial production by 2027, before starting commercial EV production by 2028.

Ten said he would discuss with the EVAP board whether the group should appeal to the BOI to reconsider the exclusion of motorcycles and tricycles from EVIS.

He warned that leaving these vehicle types out of the electrification push could make the country's EV adoption targets harder to achieve.

Under the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry, the government's lower-end target is for EVs to account for 10 per cent of the country's vehicle fleet by 2040. This would include nearly 110,000 electrified four-wheeled vehicles, 37,500 electric tricycles and 164,900 electric motorcycles.