JOHN TAN LEE is the president of Applied Machining Corporation and Nito Seiki Manufacturing Corporation. He is also the Director of the Philippine Utility Vehicle Inc. and the current President of Aerospace Industries Association of the Philippines. He is a Board Member of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines which holds the annual Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit.
The collaboration between the Philippine Utility Vehicle Incorporated (PhUV) and Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP) created the Makati Green Route. This started the electric green revolution. Similar projects were done but were not sustained. In 2008, the various electric vehicle players formed the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (eVAP) which aims to promote electric vehicles. In 2010, the First Electric Vehicle (EV) Summit was organized that gave the electric vehicles the much needed attention. This was followed by two more EV summits that started local and international partnerships. Later the 1,000 EVs by 2020 Movement was launched. At the same time the Asian Development Bank announced their etrike project. Other eVAP members followed and started their own projects.
The use of EV has several benefits for the country. It creates new jobs, more taxes for the government, multiplier effect, carbon credits, dollar savings from oil importation, savings from pollution related health expenses, net value added tax (VAT) gain on EV sales, VAT collection from additional energy demand and net revenue gain with all things considered.
Things to consider in starting an EV program in your area include traffic congestion, range, terrain, power cost in the area, power availability, customer support, effective operator and local government support. Lastly, a successful EV program must have a reliable EV manufacturer with ongoing parts and support service, effective operator, funding, government policy and industry standardization.