YOKOHAMA, Japan – Car maker Nissan Motor Corporation is expecting rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Philippines to come with a relatively moderate growth of 5.0 to 10% in the next 5 to 10 years, as the country is still on its infrastructure buildout pace and policies are still at fine-tuning and initial implementation stages.

In an interview with visiting Philippine journalists, Nissan ASEAN President Isao Sekiguchi noted that the Philippines “is one of the growing market overall,” and that is partly attributed to the country’s young population as well as the proclivity of some buyers to have their alternative car.

When asked why car buyers must opt for a Nissan model, he enthusiastically stated “because Nissan is known for quality, durability and also we are the pioneer of making mass EV.” The Nissan EV models currently marketed in the Philippines are LEAF and Kicks e-PoWER fleets.

Sekiguchi emphasized that the escalation of EV adoption in the Philippines could match the growth stride of Indonesia and other countries within ASEAN; while the current frontrunners in the region are Singapore and Thailand.

“We see that the market will continue to grow in the coming years… In the Philippines, the presence of EV is still marginal; Indonesia as well despite the fact that Indonesia is putting more incentives, including local production of EVs,” he stressed.

Sekiguchi qualified “probably the market, including Philippines EV market will probably grow 5.0 to 10% - one major condition is consumer preference on EVs.”

In the case of Singapore, the Nissan executive highlighted that this highly developed country in the region is now well ahead in the race with 18% level of EV adoption; while Thailand comes in second with 14% pie of EVs in its transport fleets.

“In ASEAN, Singapore is leading the market and Thailand surprisingly is just behind in terms of EV penetration. Thailand last month was about 14%; Singapore is about 18%,” Sekiguchi expounded.

For electric mobility to accelerate in the Southeast Asian region in the years ahead, he specified that the alluring bargaining chip to consumers – aside from affordable price points will be ease of infrastructure access (primarily charging facilities); then reliable policy enforcements that may cover both monetary and non-monetary incentives.

“Infrastructure must be ready for EV to increase penetration. The Philippines, I think it will come but which will make the breakthrough, to a certain extent, would be specific policies… one is you have to give incentives -- any monetary and non-monetary benefits that come for customers, that will drive the EV to breakthrough,” he said.

In the case of Singapore, he conveyed that the government’s move on massive rollout of charging infrastructure facilities provided much-needed support for EVs to flourish in the lion state; while in Thailand, EV buyers are enticed because they live in homes where they can conveniently set up their own chargers, instead of living in condominiums; plus, their government has also been providing incentives for the local production of electric vehicles.

On the charging facilities, he conveyed that “in ASEAN, it’s now CHAdeMo and CCS (combined charging system). Probably in the future, it will probably go more into CCS - that seems to be becoming standard across the ASEAN markets,” he said.

Sekiguchi added that in the case of other markets like Hongkong, they have a policy in which their government will be supporting the purchase of EV if the buyer would opt to change his/her very old car powered with internal combustion engines.

In other EV pioneering-markets, there are also provision of green lanes or exemption of toll fee payments – such as in the case of California at the initial stages of its EV adoption, that way, the customers will be highly encouraged to embrace fleet shift to electric-powered cars.

For the Philippines, in particular, Sekiguchi opined that the proposed ‘green routes’ as well as exemption from the number coding system could be dangled as non-monetary perks to would-be EV adopters.

“Policy will play a great role, whether it is subsidizing to purchase EV or again as I said, monetary or non-monetary benefits that can drive adoption – special parking or special lanes that will help you to reduce your commuting time, definitely, that’s a benefit,” he asserted.

And as the drive toward electric mobility gains headway, another major consideration for the EV manufacturers would be the preferences of the Gen Z buyers; as well as the predisposition for brand ingenuity and quality for the older generations.

“Initially, those early adopters are the ones that are always looking for new things; and also the people who can afford to buy a second or third car. However, with the more affordable EVs to come, we’ve started to see some people buying EV for the first time - the younger generation. The similarities among these - especially the Gen Zs, they like something new, they would always want something that is advanced technology, value for money and brand doesn’t matter,” he indicated.

Further, Sekiguchi noted “we shouldn’t also forget about the other generations who have different values compared to Gen Z -- so this is where we’re going to have understanding of any product that we’re going to make in the future, what should be the profile of our customers …so there are criteria that we need to understand across generational values.”