The government is planning to introduce another incentive program aimed at attracting investments to foster manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country, according to the Marcos administration’s economic czar.

Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA) Secretary Frederick Go said the government has yet to craft details of this program.

However, Go said the main intention is to complete it “as soon as possible.”

He added that this would differ from the EV Incentive Strategy (EVIS), which is part of the government’s comprehensive roadmap for developing the country’s EV industry.

“EVIS is different, that's like a strategy, right? But we need to create an incentive program, specific to EVs,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 2025 Philippine EV Summit.

While he did not disclose other details, Go said the incentive program would be modeled after the existing frameworks for the automotive industry.

“Look at CARS and RACE, it should be similar…That's your best basis,” he noted.

Under the administration of the late former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program was rolled out to attract investments in the manufacturing of vehicles and their components.

Under the CARS, participants are required to produce 200,000 units of their enrolled model within a six-year period.

The government, in return, would provide fiscal incentives in the form of fixed investment support and production volume incentives.

The CARS program only had three available slots, with Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) as its only participants.

Meanwhile, RACE, or the Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement, will succeed CARS, with the view of opening up the incentives to every manufacturer.

Although not yet implemented, the RACE program is expected to offer similar fiscal support to CARS, but with a lower production requirement.

The EVIS, meanwhile, is also not yet finalized, with the government looking to harness time-bound, targeted, performance-based, and transparent fiscal and non-fiscal support to attract EV and EV parts manufacturing into the country.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) aims to onboard companies involved in electronic components, other strategic parts, battery production, charging station development, and testing facilities under the program.

The DTI earlier estimated that EVIS will potentially attract ₱120 billion in capital investments and generate around 680,000 jobs.

Go is optimistic about the progress of the EV industry in the country, as evident in its continued uptake among consumers seeking a fuel-efficient vehicle.

“But to us, in my office, more important than that is the next step, which is to try to bring electric vehicle manufacturing or electric vehicle assembly here in the Philippines,” he said.

Case in point, Go noted that the OSAPIEA is in talks with an EV manufacturer who is “very serious” about the prospect of building EVs in the country.

He said his office is working with the Board of Investments (BOI) to realize this planned expansion. However, he noted that a specific investment program to expedite such a plan.

“They've signified their intention. So we have to come up with something to make it a reality,” he said.

The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) expects the addition of 35,000 new EVs in the country this year, up 46 percent from 24,000 last year.

The EVAP is targeting to make EVs account for at least 50 percent of all vehicles in the country by 2040.