DOE haggles for further discount on e-trikes

THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) has initiated a second round of talks with the lone bidder that qualified for the contract to supply electric tricycles (e-trikes) to be purchased under the Electric Vehicle (EV) program.

At stake is the pilot supply contract for 3,000 units of e-trikes under a program to distribute a total of 100,000 units, enough to help curb air and noise pollution from conventional tricycles in urban centers.

“Last Tuesday, we had a meeting with the winning bidder. It’s a renegotiation, the second time around, to really come up with a low price,” Energy Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of the Energy Investment Forum.

The first round of negotiations took place in October.

DOE has evaluated the financial and technical bids of Japan’s Uzushio Electric Co., Ltd. (represented by BEMAC Electric Transportation Philippines Inc.). After last month’s negotiations, the Japanese company agreed to lower the price of the units by 27 percent.

In September, Marcos said at the Senate’s DOE budget hearing that the ADB had issued a no objection letter for the result of the bid screening for the project, in which only one company qualified to submit an e-trike supply proposal.

The DOE, as project implementer, regularly reports milestones on the e-trike tender to the ADB. The latter gives the green light whether it finds each major step to be above-board and properly executed.