The Philippines' electric jeepney assembler PhUV Inc. targets to produce between 120 and 144 units of e-jeepneys next year, more than twice the 50 units manufactured this year.
PhUV president Ferdinand Raquelsantos said the company was now undertaking research to make the e-jeepneys that PhUV would eventually roll out lighter and less air-resistant. This would allow the units to run faster.
Right now, he said the usual e-jeepneys ran at only 30-35 kilometers per hour and can run 70 kilometers per full charge.
Future e-jeepneys, however, should be able to run faster and cover longer distances on a single charge, he said.
"The main hurdles for the industry now are on the research and development side and public acceptance," he said, adding that the granting of incentives for the assembly and use of e-vehicles should help the industry overcome such obstacles.
The fledgling industry, he said, was urging the government to exempt e-vehicles from the unified vehicle volume reduction program, more commonly known as the number coding scheme. This would encourage motorists to shift to e-vehicles.
