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The Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of
the Phils. Inc. (MVPMAP) announced last week it will be designing,
developing and manufacturing 44 units of an electric powered jeepney.
MVPMAP will coordinate with the Green Renewable Independent Power
Producer Inc. (GRIPP), a partnership spearheaded by Greenpeace
International that’s organized in pursuit of its Climate Friendly
Cities program.
In the program, MVPMAP will be
funded by Dutch NGO DOEN Foundation to build 50 units of the
emission-free electric jeepneys that will be distributed to select
cities identified by GRIPP. Chosen as pilot areas are Bacolod City,
which has received four units of the electric jeepney for pilot
testing, and Makati City, which already has two electric jeepneys.
MVPMAP and its Filipino engineers
will design, develop and produce the local version of the electric
jeepney under its Philippine Utility Vehicle (PhUV) program and will
call it the e-PhUV. Unlike the initial six China versions which were
just bigger and modified versions of a golf cart, the local e-PhUV
will be a replica of a full-scale jeepney.
MVPMAP decided to build the
electric jeepney because its PhUV program is already included in the
2007 Investments Priority Program of the Board of Investments. This
qualifies all assemblers and local parts suppliers in the PhUV
program to various incentives such as income tax holiday and
duty-free importations of raw materials and capital equipment.
Whatever parts and components for the e-PhUV that cannot be produced
locally will be imported while MVPMAP members will supply the local
parts to complete the electric jeepney.
MVPMAP expects to present the
prototype to GRIPP by the end of February. Mass production will then
commence after the prototype is tested and approved.
Besides the initial 44 units
ordered by GRIPP, MVPMAP is also targeting sales of the e-PhUV to
entities which have shown early interest in the vehicle. Among these
are other local governments (LGUs) that are not part of GRIPP’s
Climate Friendly Cities program, homeowners’ associations of
exclusive subdivisions, resorts, schools, industrial zones, theme
parks, golf courses, malls and federations of jeepney operators and
drivers.
MVPMAP cites the relatively low
operating cost of an e-PhUV compared to a conventional diesel or
gasoline powered jeepney as its product’s attraction. According to
the MVPMAP, the electric jeepney can be charged overnight for eight
to 10 hours at a cost of approximately P200 using an ordinary wall
outlet. When fully charged, it can be operated for about 100
kilometers—or costing only P2 per kilometer. This is about half
the operating cost of a diesel or gasoline powered jeepney.
Under GRIPP’s Climate Friendly
Cities program, the e-PhUV will be one of its three major
components, being a product of the two other major components. These
two are a small biodigester power plant using biological wastes from
nearby households and commercial establishments and a depot to serve
as the charging station and terminal for the e-PhUV units.
To supply fuel to the biodigester,
LGUs must implement the Waste Segregation program mandated by law.
The biodegradable wastes will be converted into electric power at
the e-PhUV depot. The entire Climate Friendly Cities program will
therefore complement the Waste Segregation program of the government
by converting biodegradable household wastes into electric power to
operate the e-PHUV, the MVPMAP said.
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