Taiwan, local firms tie up for e-bus project in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Two Philippine companies have tied up with a Taiwanese electric car technology firm for the manufacture of electric buses in the country.

Greentech Motors Corp. and Statemotors, both all-Filipino companies, signed last Friday in Taiwan a memorandum of understanding with Taiwanese company RAC Electric Vehicles Inc. for a tripartite collaboration that will enable the manufacture of environment-friendly and energy-efficient electric buses in the country. This will hopefully reduce, if not eradicate, smoke-belching and dilapidated public utility buses from polluting the country’s major thoroughfares and highways.

Jan Vincent Kierulf, Greentech Motors president, said that with the alliance firmed up, they hope to assemble an initial batch of 10 electric buses here in the country before the end of the year.

Kierulf said that with the local assemble of the electric buses, they hope to make the environment-friendly “e-buses” more affordable for Philippine public utility bus companies.

It was learned that the cost of importing brand-new e-buses from other countries like Taiwan, China, and Australia ranges from P18 to P25 million, making it not financially-viable for many bus companies.

Greentech Motors, will be the lead company to pursue the local manufacture of the e-buses, with RAC Electric Vehicles providing the technology for the electric power trains manufacture.

Statemotors, a unit of State Investment of Allen Roxas, which bought the car assembly plant of the defunct Francisco Motors Corp., will provide the car assembly factory where the e-buses will be manufactured and assembled.

With the local assembly and manufacture of the e-buses, they project to bring down the cost of a brand-new e-bus to as low as P7 million.

Kierulf expressed optimism about the undertaking, and welcomed a commitment from Trade and Industry Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal to create a study group that will draw up a roadmap for the development of an electric vehicle industry in the Philippines.