DoE has authority to accelerate charging station rollout — senator

THE Department of Energy (DoE) is empowered to accelerate the charging-station rollout beyond the legal minimum in order to hasten electric vehicle (EV) adoption, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said.

“Under the law, (the DoE) can mandate the utilities to roll out a minimum number of charging stations and they can mandate the establishments to come up with dedicated (EV) parking slots,” Mr. Gatchalian told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum 2023 in Manila on Tuesday.

The DoE is currently pushing to ramp up the EV rollout to 10% of all vehicle fleets from the initial 5% as required by Republic Act No. 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA).

The revised implementing rules and regulations of EVIDA, which were signed last year, set a 5% minimum share for EVs in corporate and government vehicle fleets. It also requires that establishments set aside dedicated EV parking slots, the installation of charging stations in parking lots and fuel stations, the opening of green routes for EV users, and support for domestic EV manufacturing.

“You have to roll out the infrastructure before people are encouraged to buy EVs,” Mr. Gatchalian said.

The DoE said it is working on a comprehensive roadmap for the electric vehicle industry, which it expects to attract more investors to the industry.

The DoE said for 2023-2028, it is targeting an EV fleet of 2.45 million cars, tricycles, motorcycles, and buses, and 65,000 EV charging stations.

Between 2029 and 2034, the DoE said it will push for an additional 1.85 million EVs and 42,000 charging stations.

“These actions are consistent with EVIDA’s thrust of creating an enabling environment for the development of the EV industry. The shift to EVs is expected to reduce dependence on imported fuel,” the DoE said.

At the end of 2021, the DoE said it registered about 9,000 EVs, of which 378 were public utility vehicles, and tallied 327 charging stations. — Ashley Erika O. Jose