EV industry need more gov’t support for local production | Business and Politics
The government has done a lot for the electronic vehicle (EV) industry, says Rommel Juan, chairman of the Electronic Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP). However, the government needs to do more if the Philippines is to assemble and produce EVs locally.
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The government has done a lot for the electronic vehicle (EV) industry, says Rommel Juan, chairman of the Electronic Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP). However, the government needs to do more if the Philippines is to assemble and produce EVs locally.
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Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital
Check out our Podcasts:
Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify
Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I had the opportunity to interview Secretary Pascual here of Trade on this program, and I asked him the question,
00:06 "Was it the right policy to give the incentives to import CBUs or completely built-up units,
00:13 and maybe why not knock-down units so at least you encourage local assembly and create more jobs here?"
00:20 But he was saying that that was just the preliminary stage.
00:25 What do you think? Do you think the government is doing enough or what can the government do more to help people like you and your industry
00:33 to realize that dream of making Southeast Asia as the global supplier of EV vehicles?
00:41 Well, at this point, I believe it's a good start that they allowed tax-free importation of the electric vehicles
00:52 so that adoption can grow. And to be honest, we can't really assemble here. We don't have the volume for that.
01:02 So that's okay. But however, there is a possibility for us to assemble locally,
01:12 public utility vehicles, PUVs, electric tricycles, even electric motorcycles. We can assemble them.
01:24 So maybe we would need more support on that. The raw materials for that and everything EV-related is okay.
01:33 There's no tariff. Maybe we just need help with financing, help with technical support.
01:43 We need know-how on how to produce it. Because that's where Taiwan and Thailand have the engineering know-how to really build it.
02:00 I was just in Thailand and I visited a factory that they have that makes electric motorcycles.
02:07 They produce about 300 units a month. But it's really high-tech. The R&D is really high-tech.
02:13 The production line is really high-tech. Those are the things that we need also here.
02:19 So what can the government do to help us set up things like that?
02:25 And of course, we need to set up the supply chain. We are a member of the Philippine Parts Makers Association.
02:37 Does the EVDA cover parts for electric and hybrid?
02:42 It does. That's good. But we still, I like benchmarking with other countries. Look at Malaysia.
03:00 Malaysia has their national car, the Proton and the Perdua.
03:05 A lot of people say, "Oh, that's a failure because it's subsidized by the government."
03:12 If you remove the subsidy, you can't earn anything.
03:16 But if you go to Malaysia, if you take a taxi, 100% Perdua. And it's a nice vehicle.
03:23 And if you talk about their parts makers there, they're progressing, they're so successful.
03:31 Because they're all producing for the national car. I still dream of the day that we'll have a national car.
03:38 Things like that.
03:41 You were saying earlier that the BUI was looking at the idea of incentivizing the building of a chassis for a certain class of vehicles.
03:50 Yes.
03:51 I was going to ask you, what role do you think the Philippines will play?
03:54 Because in the conventional market now, as I understand it, correct me if I'm wrong, we produce the wire harness, the transmissions are produced here.
04:04 And then the body is produced in Thailand. Probably the rubbers and the tires are in Malaysia.
04:13 And then it's brought together. What role do you think the Philippines can play?
04:18 What position should we aim at? If we're looking at the ASEAN system.
04:26 Based on the people that you've been talking to around the region.
04:29 Well, I'm thinking it's a good idea, the BUI, to incentivize that 7-meter chassis.
04:37 Because at least there's demand locally. And we can use it locally.
04:43 There are talks where they want to give the third slot of the CARS program to that chassis.
04:51 But they want it electric.
04:53 So I support that. Because at least that has a base.
04:59 That's why we're losing to other countries like Thailand and Indonesia.
05:03 Because their domestic base is larger than ours.
05:06 So they produce more, they have the economies of scale.
05:09 So if we produce here, it's more expensive than what's produced there.
05:14 So the office here just imports from Thailand and Indonesia.
05:21 But for example, Jeepney.
05:24 There's no Jeepney or PUV in Thailand and Indonesia.
05:28 So you have a niche.
05:31 So I believe we can start with that niche and work from there.
05:36 You were saying earlier that Indonesia did something interesting,
05:40 which is to limit their exports of nickel.
05:43 And you were saying that maybe that's something the Philippines should look at.
05:46 Does that resonate with the people you talk to?
05:49 Who can make those decisions? Or do we still need to educate them on the...
05:54 Honestly, I don't have any other people who share that idea.
06:01 Maybe it's just the regular people.
06:04 In all honesty, I'm not really familiar with the nickel industry in the Philippines.
06:11 Although we have EVAP and the Philippine Nickel Association have a partnership.
06:18 I don't know if that's a direction that they want to look at.
06:23 Definitely I know that the Philippine Nickel Association is looking at battery manufacturing and things like that.
06:30 So I hope that will continue.
06:33 Because if we can do that here in the Philippines,
06:36 then our nickel will be of higher value when it comes out.
06:42 Rather than ore.
06:44 Yeah, rather than raw materials.
06:48 And then where do you want to bring these talks to?
06:52 I mean, your tour around ASEAN, where do you want this to lead to?
06:59 Are you looking at establishing a network? Is it a company?
07:04 Or is it an ecosystem that you're looking at?
07:07 What are the talks about?
07:09 Right now, it's just still preliminary.
07:12 So it's just a network.
07:14 We're establishing the network.
07:16 But definitely what we want to go towards is to create the ecosystem.
07:20 So identifying where we can take advantage of this.
07:29 Where will the Philippines really fit in the puzzle?
07:36 There's a niche. We can find a lot of things.
07:41 As you mentioned, wiring harnesses.
07:44 Yasaki Taurus is still the largest manufacturer and that's our top exporter of automotive parts.
07:52 So it's proven that we can do it.
07:56 We just need to replicate what those companies are doing.
08:05 In your visits around the region,
08:09 one thing I heard in Jakarta when I was there was that
08:14 putting together an electric vehicle is not anything like the conventional assembly of cars.
08:21 And one analogy that I heard from one guy was that
08:24 it's more akin to assembling a smartphone rather than a vehicle.
08:31 So since you mentioned Yasaki Taurus,
08:34 are they going to have a role to play in the future, you think?
08:38 I'm not very familiar with the engineering. This is your area.
08:42 Would companies like that have a role to play maybe in the electric age of manufacturing?
08:48 There is still. Although it's more on electronics now.
08:53 Even in the States, the electronic show and the EV show are together.
09:00 The future electric vehicles will be more like computers than cars.
09:05 And it's totally different.
09:08 Moving parts, 3,500 moving parts in an ICE vehicle, internal combustion,
09:15 only 350 electric.
09:18 So actually, it will really change the whole industry
09:23 because it doesn't require much service anymore.
09:29 It doesn't need to change oil. You won't need to change oil.
09:35 Their servicing is just replacing wheels.
09:37 Software.
09:38 Software. And it's through the cloud now.
09:41 The software is through the cloud.
09:43 I'm excited. Even self-driving will actually...
09:49 This is a prediction.
09:51 Self-driving technology will come even faster than the electrification of all the cars.
10:00 Because the technology for self-driving is developing faster than battery technology.
10:07 So it might be faster.
10:09 But it's automatic with electric cars.
10:12 So you'll retrofit the ICE cars with this technology.
10:18 So it's really different.
10:22 I was just in Bangkok with members of EVAP.
10:27 I was with Dr. Joel Makatula.
10:31 He's a neurosurgeon.
10:33 He has three electric vehicles.
10:35 Wow.
10:36 BYD Song, BYD Dolphin, and a Wuling Game Boy.
10:42 He said, "I don't have range anxiety."
10:47 He said, "Because if your electric car has a range of 300 to 400 kilometers, you'll never finish it in Manila."
10:57 He said, "In the Philippines, electric vehicles are perfect because it's not that far."
11:03 "How often do you go to Baguio? Or how often do you go to Bicol?"
11:09 But there are fast charging stations established in mid-centers now.
11:17 So actually, if I ask about range anxiety, it's not valid in the Philippines.
11:25 Because the average travel of a Filipino is maybe 50 kilometers a day.
11:31 Yeah, at most. And most of that's in traffic.
11:33 Most of that's in traffic.
11:35 So you can charge in your office, you can charge at home.
11:39 220 volts is all you need to charge.
11:41 You don't need a fast charger all the time.
11:43 Actually, slow is the way to go.
11:45 [silence]