The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) has called for the inclusion of all electric vehicle (EVs) technologies, including hybrid EVs, in the planned removal of the 30 percent most favored nation (MFN) tariff on completely built-up EVs.
In a statement, CAMPI said that its proposal is consistent with and complementary with the Republic Act No. 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA).
CAMPI issued the statement following the position of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) to exclude hybrid EVs or the HEV, and limit the zero tariff privilege to full EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) only.
“CAMPI supports all EV technologies including HEVs, and battery electric vehicles BEVs. All these have potential for fuel consumption reduction and vehicle emission mitigation in the mid- to long-term,” said CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez in a statement released late Wednesday night, May 18.
CAMPI noted that the scope of its proposal is consistent with the definition of EVs under
EVIDA, which includes HEV, PHEV, BEVs and light electric vehicles.
Lapsed into law on April 15, 2022, EVIDA now embodies the national policy framework on EV development. CAMPI urged that all EV-related policymaking should give regard to this and not diminish EVIDA’s potential.
CAMPI further explained that EV adoption in the Philippines is still in its early stage. As such, CAMPI said it is not optimal to homogenize the EV requirements of the transport fleet as different users have varying
considerations for EV adoption.
For instance, CAMPI said, the EV requirements and motivation for adoption of public utility vehicle operators significantly differ from that of private transport users.
Private vehicles accounted for approximately 94 percent of the total vehicle fleet (excluding trailers and motorcycles) in 2021. In terms of fleet size, there is no doubt that electrification of private transportation will substantially reduce fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.
CAMPI is looking at the gradual electrification of the private vehicle segment with its members offering a whole range of OEM EVs.
“OEM EV technologies are backed up by years of research and development. It cannot be
oversimplified by focusing on only one component of the EV drivetrain system”, Gutierrez said.
CAMPI believes that EVIDA measures and the zero MFN tariff proposal put the automotive industry in the right direction in terms of vehicle electrification.
In its submission to the Tariff Commission, which is conducting public consultation for the proposed temporary suspension of the MFN tariff for EVs, EVAP pointed out that HEVs are conventional vehicles using the internal combustion engine (ICE).
“HEVs don’t contribute in diversifying energy HEVs are actually internal combustion engine or conventional vehicles in the sense that they source their power solely from petroleum and charging is done via its internal combustion engine,” stated the position paper signed by EVAP President Edmund A. Araga.
EVAP further said that HEVs don’t contribute in diversifying energy sources in the country which is one of the main intentions of the EVIDA law. HEVs are not even classified as Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV), unlike PHEVs, thus are treated differently.
The higher cost of electrified units are mostly traced to their batteries, but EVAP noted that unlike PHEVS and EVs, batteries of HEVs are smaller thus they are cheaper and already approaches the cost of pure ICE vehicles.
“Providing similar incentives to HEVs will lead to significantly lower prices than PHEVs and EVs and eat up the market and slow down the adoption of PHEVs and EVs which would be detrimental to the whole intention of the initiative. It is important to provide an upper hand to PHEVs and EVs relative to HEVs,” EVAP said.
According to EVAP, it is common for countries now to provide incentives only to PHEVs and EVs and exclude HEVs as they are often considered as conventional vehicles and are already mostly competitive price wise. In addition, EVAP pointed out that HEVs have been included already under the TRAIN law excise tax incentives (50%) despite being a conventional vehicle.
Aside from HEV, EVAP also proposes the exclusion of electric-jeepneys (e-jeepneys) and electric-tricycles (e-trikes) from the tariff exemption so as not to affect the development and growth of the local e-Jeepney and e-Tricycle industry.
Moreover, EVAP has called for the provision of new tariff codes for some items instead of lumping them in existing codes to avoid confusion in implementation. This is mostly true for the key electrical components of electric vehicles including battery cells, packs and modules, traction motors and motor controllers.
EVAP has identified 19 tariff codes and items that need to have separate codes.
EVAP Chairman Ferdinand Raquelsantos said there are roughly 10 EVs and PHEV brands in the local market at present.
Nissan Motor Philippines has already made available its full EV car LEAF in the local market. Other EVs and PHEV models in the country include Mitsubishi Outlander, BYD E6, Dong Feng Rich 6 pick-up, Audi e-Tron, Dolphin, Changan, Jaguar I-Pace, Porsche Taycan, and Hyundai’s Ioniq, and Kona.
Toyota Motor Philippines, the country’s number one car brand, has only HEV models including Corolla Altis, Cross, Camry, RAV4, and Prius. For Lexus, its HEV line-up include LS, ES, IS, RX and NX.