DOE to spend $100M on 20,000 electric tricycles

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Energy plans to tap an initial $100 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to help finance the 20,000 electric tricycles that it plans to deploy over the next two years.

The e-trikes, according to Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras, will provide a more sustainable form of transport that can provide economic, social and environment advantages as opposed to a tricycle fueled by the traditional fossil fuel, diesel.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Almendras said that the amount needed could even be more than $100 million, depending on the absorptive capacity of the local governments and the availability of companies that could manufacture the e-trikes.

Funding is not a problem, according to the energy chief, as there are three other multilateral agencies that have expressed interest in financing the project, aside from the ADB and the World Bank.

The Clean Technology Fund, from which the DOE intends to draw funds, endorsed in 2009 a total of $250 million to the country to help the Philippines in mitigating climate change. The amount is expected to leverage about $2.75 billion worth of investments in low carbon programs and projects.

The electric tricycle program is a partnership between the DOE and the Asian Development Bank as part of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy. While the strategy is being developed, the DOE will start introducing e-tricycles, e-jeepneys, e-buses, and e-cars with the help of local entrepreneurs and technical experts. The agency is currently developing a sustainable model for introducing electric tricycles.

The DOE earlier said the promotion of e-tricycles, in particular, would “spur development of local capabilities to design and maintain small-sized electric cars. This in turn will entice private investors to set up local manufacturing facilities that will lead to the creation of more jobs and a dynamic market for locally assembled units for export to the ASEAN region in the future.”

In April 2011, the DOE handed over 20 units of electric tricycles to the city government of Mandaluyong. The commercial run of the e-trikes, which started in May 2011, reportedly yielded “very good economic returns for the drivers in terms of fuel savings and higher net take home pay.”