BY JESSICA ANNE D. HERMOSA, Senior Reporter
THE COUNTRY’S largest power distribution utility, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), has gone into developing electric tricycles on top of its recent entry into power generation, a ranking official said late last week.
A subsidiary, Meralco Energy, Inc., is already working with engineers to produce a cheap plug-in tricycle which should boost demand for the company’s core business, the official said.
"We have decided that we will try to develop an electric tricycle," Meralco Energy President Jesus P. Francisco said at the sidelines of last week’s Electric Vehicle Summit.
"We are working with the academe -- the College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines -- to develop a working tricycle," he added.
The announcement comes a month after the power distributor said it was putting up a separate subsidiary that would install 1,500 megawatts of capacity by 2016.
Also last week, the Energy department said it would need 20,000 electric tricycles over the next five to seven years for a program with the Asian Development Bank to convert a tenth of Metro Manila’s gasoline-powered fleet.
While several manufacturers already assemble battery-powered tricycles which ply Taguig City and Puerto Princesa City roads, Meralco Energy is keen to produce cheaper versions that use sidecars similar to the traditional fuel-powered models, Mr. Francisco said.
This tack to create electric vehicles is expected to address the inertia keeping players from using such vehicles or investing in charging infrastructure, he said.
"Meralco is willing to provide charging stations but I am not convinced that is all that is necessary," he added.
The envisioned vehicle is also expected to feature a higher amount of locally sourced parts than existing variants, Mr. Francisco said even as he declined to elaborate.
"We will cross that bridge," he said, noting the plan includes only tricycles for now.
Meralco share prices were down 6.41% on Friday at P175 apiece.
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