$500M e-tricycle project to start this year

The Asian Development Bank is set to start implementing this year the $500-million electric tricycle project, which will see the rollout of as many as 100,000 units within the next four years.

Of the funding, $300 million will come from the ADB, $100 million from the Philippine government, and another $100 million from the Clean Technology Fund.

Sohail Hasnie, principal energy specialist at the ADB, told reporters that the prequalification of suppliers and/or manufacturers for the project was expected to start next month.

Before the end of this year, Hasnie said he was expecting at least 100 of these e-trikes to start plying Philippine roads.

The main plan was to initially roll out 20,000 units on key islands, such as Boracay and Puerto Princesa, and in some parts of Metro Manila. After this, a study will be conducted to determine whether the use of e-trikes works according to the project objectives and yields the benefits targeted by the ADB and the Philippine government.

Only after the initial batch is proven successful will the ADB proceed with the rollout of the remaining 80,000 units, he added.

According to Hasnie, the ADB is also looking into putting up five pilot charging stations to ensure the viability and sustainability of the e-trikes project. The target, he added, was to make sure that the cost of power used by the e-trikes would be much lower than the cost of fuel used by regular tricycles.

At present, more than 3.5 million motorized tricycles are operating in the country, producing more than 10 million tons of carbon dioxide and using nearly $5 billion worth of imported fuel yearly.