THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has formed a new subsidiary to hasten the EV (electric vehicle) adoption in the country.
“We received the original documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Movem Electric Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of [Meralco], incorporated to own, create, develop, manufacture, produce, assemble, configure, reconfigure, use, manage, maintain, operate, repair, improve, test, build, install, license, sell, market, distribute, lease, import and export, transport service networks utilizing electric energy and other alternative energy sources, and their component charging stations, hardware, software, batteries, vehicles, accessories, parts, gadgets, digital applications, and other equipment related to the business, for the purpose of transporting passengers and merchandise, of every kind and nature, both for domestic and foreign markets, including investing, owning or holding interests in similar businesses to subsidiaries, affiliates or any entity in which the corporation has lawful interest,” Meralco told the stock exchange last Tuesday.
Meralco Senior Vice President William S. Pamintuan said that Movem will “focus on sales and distribution of EVs an chargers to corporate clients” while Meralco’s green mobility arm (“ESakay”), will continue to provide end-to-end EV and charging infrastructure solutions for institutional customers and the riding public.
Meralco said the incorporation of Movem is in line with the utility firm’s plan to be a major player in the growing EV industry.
“The new subsidiary will focus on the development and deployment of different electric transport solutions,” Meralco said.
eSakay, which currently operates a fleet of eJeeps, meanwhile will focus on public transportation service.
According to Pamintuan, “eSakay” has approved route of Mandaluyong-Makati using e-jeepneys.
As of October last year, there are around 9,000 registered EVs, of which 378 are public utility vehicles (PUVs), and 276 charging stations have already been deployed nationwide.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is currently pushing to ramp up the EV rollout to 10 percent of all vehicle fleets from five percent as required by RA 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA).
The agency is also working on a comprehensive roadmap for the EV industry in a bid to attract more investors. For 2023 to 2028, the DOE is targeting an EV fleet of 2.45 million cars, tricycles, motorcycles, and buses, and 65,000 EV charging stations. From 2029 to 2034, the DOE is aiming to add 1.85 million EVs more and an additional 42, 000 charging stations.
“These actions are consistent with EVIDA’s thrust of creating an enabling environment for the development of the EV industry. The shift to EVs is expected to reduce dependence on imported fuel,” the DOE had said.
Earlier, the DOE has reached an agreement with Shell Philippines for a pilot project that will help support the growth of the EV industry.
A tripartite memorandum of agreement was inked by the DOE, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC), and Shell Energy Philippines Inc. (SEPH) with the primary objective of conducting a pilot study of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCs) supplied by renewable energy, such as solar. Key components of the project include supply, installation, operation, and maintenance of EVCs, monitoring and verification of energy efficiency, performance, and savings through the utilization of renewable energy, as well as optimization of the use of cleaner energy.
The DOE said that the data generated from the pilot project will be used as a reference for the agency to further develop programs, policies, and regulations for the sustainable and safe adoption and operation of EVCs utilizing renewable energy.
PSPC and SEPH will utilize the data to serve as a benchmark for the development and roll out the EVC network in its existing and future Shell-branded mobility sites.