A GOVERNMENT’S plan to put up charging stations for electric vehicles in select gasoline stations should be thoroughly evaluated, a top official of an oil company said.
Shell Philippines President Cesar Romero said he fully supports the development of infrastructure complementing the e-vehicle industry, such as the availability of charging in gasoline stations.
However, such plan must be evaluated, particularly focusing on the demand for e-vehicles.
“The bigger challenge is the demand. It’s one thing to put up a facility, but if there are no cars to be charged, then it defeats the purpose. The equally demanding question is its demand,” Romero said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said in February that an ad hoc technical working group was formed to determine the suitability of gasoline stations as charging areas for e-vehicles.
“In preparation for the booming electric-vehicle industry, I instructed the DOE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau and Energy Utilization Management Bureau to issue the necessary policies that will support the development of infrastructure complementing the e-vehicle industry, such as the availability of charging in gasoline stations,” he said.
The lack of charging stations in localities has been one of the main issues e-vehicle players have raised in pushing for developments in the industry.
The DOE, he said, is in the process of updating the policy standards for existing gasoline stations to accommodate charging stations.
Last Friday Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said oil firms are amenable to this and that there could be fees to be collected by the owners of the gasoline stations.
“We will identify the major routes where there are gasoline stations. They will be collecting fees. It’s not free. We are studying that,” Cusi said.
The agency, he added, is also closely working with the transportation department involving the registration of the units.
“We are still at this stage when we just want to showcase that e-vehicles are the next thing. We are informing the people, demonstrating it to the public,” he added.
Last week Cusi and Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa turned over 24 units of advanced hybrid vehicles to various national government agencies.
The government of Japan gave the Philippines a grant amounting to ¥500 million for the procurement and delivery of next-generation vehicles (i.e., hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles) under the Japan Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA) with the DOE as its implementing agency. “This program aims to promote the local use and patronage of efficient and environment-friendly alternative fuel vehicles, by deploying demo units and consequently developing familiarity with their operation, maintenance and service,” Cusi said.
Underscoring the responsibility of recipients, Cusi said, “We entrust the 24 units of highly fuel-efficient 2017 model Hybrid Toyota Prius to our partner-agencies, which are fortunate to act as the government’s veritable endorsers of clean technology and harbingers of the future of passenger transport.”
For this tranche, recipients of the Japan-made hybrid cars are the Office of the President, the departments of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Finance, Foreign Affairs, Budget and Management, Transportation, Tourism (DOT), Trade and Industry (DTI) and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); the National Economic and Development Authority; the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); and the Philippine National Police.
Eight other units will be distributed to the Region 8 offices of national government agencies involved in emergency response operations and rehabilitation, such as the Philippine Information Agency, Office of Civil Defense, DOT-Land Transportation Office, DENR Environmental Management Bureau, DILG-Bureau of Fire Protection, DOST and the DTI.
Cusi said the donation of alternative-fuel vehicles to different government agencies nationwide “would help trigger a paradigm shift in the mindset of the public so that we would be able to witness a dramatic reduction in both our fuel consumption and carbon emissions.”