Filipino-owned ToJo Motors Corp. is expanding its electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing operation in Mindanao to serve demands for cleaner and modern vehicles from regions outside Luzon.
ToJo Motors Chief Operating Officer Patrick Quinay announced at the virtual 9th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit “Accelerating the Switch to Electro Mobility” that they are expanding their e-jeepney manufacturing operation in General Santos City. ToJo’s main plant is located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“We are expanding and setting up another plant in General Santos City to cater to the Mindanao and Visayas market,” said Patrick.
According to Quinay, they will start with a warehouse for all its delivered units for the Mindanao area. “We are targeting operational start by 2Q of 2022, and will initially focus on manufacturing electric jeepneys as part of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP),” he said.
The wholly-owned Filipino company is also targeting to serve at least 1,000 orders of e-jeeps in different regions in the island. Most of its customers are cooperatives under the government’s PUVMP. ToJo also supplies different local government units for their own public use and private companies, resorts, schools, and malls.
Quinay did not reveal the investments for the two assembly plants but said they are registered with the Board of Investment as domestic producer of electric vehicles. The company has also plans to produce some of the parts and components for their e-jeepneys.
In the meantime, major components such as underchassis components and lithium batteries are imported from China, Japan, and Singapore, but the fabrication of body and platform are all locally made.
ToJo was founded in 2013 and started producing e-trikes before it moved up to manufacturing of 4-wheels and e-jeepneys. Since its founding, ToJo has already delivered 400 units of pure EVs.