THE group of Manuel V. Pangilinan intends to have a bigger role in electric vehicles (EVs).
“We might invest. They have a plant in Subic. We just don’t know which arm of Meralco, [Manila Electric Co.]” said the Meralco chairman who was referring to Star 8, which designed the e-jeepneys for Meralco’s eSakay Inc. “I was asking them, how do they build it. I hope they can do it here. I think it was designed by an Israeli.”
eSakay, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco, launched on Friday 15 “eJeeps” plying the MRT Buendia Station-Mandaluyong City Hall route.
It has invested close to P2 million per vehicle, said eSakay Chairman Alfredo S. Panlilio who is also Meralco’s senior vice-president.
Panlilio said the design of the eJeeps is from Israel, although the vehicles were manufactured and imported from China.
“That’s one way,” said Panlilio when asked if eSakay would be interested to partner with Star 8. “He wants to explore some form of cooperation. The MVP group is thinking of how to propagate EVs and the key there is supply. Star 8 can be a partner. We continue to search for these potential partners.”
“But you know MVP. We take a look at a certain business, what are the requirements of business and there will be a time when we have to make decisions, negotiations on a partner, acquire or build it organically…and then we decide. Hopefully, it’s promising. So, let’s see,” said Panlilio said.
He said Meralco has long been an advocate for the wider use of EVs in the country with the EV shuttling service and electric bike-sharing program at the Meralco Center in Ortigas.
“It soon became clear to us that electric vehicles were indeed a viable transport solution. That’s when we partnered with private companies, government institutions and now, public transport operators who expressed keen interest in utilizing EVs for their transport needs,” Panlilio said.
He said eSakay may expand its fleet of 15 to other routes. “We will first see the traffic situation. If there is demand, then we’d be more aggressive down the road,” he said.