The costs to be paid in charging electric vehicles as well as the standards to be enforced in charging stations remained as the ‘most debatable’ concerns in the crafting of the proposed Comprehensive Roadmap for Electric Vehicles (CREV) in the Philippines.
Those issues were repeatedly raised by various stakeholders in a virtual public consultation convened on Friday (April 16) by the Department of Energy (DOE), the lead agency formulating the electric mobility blueprint of the country.
When asked on the charging fees to be imposed for EVs, Director Patrick T. Aquino of the DOE’s Energy Utilization and Management Bureau (EUMB), stated that they will cling in to the universal concept that it shall be “affordable” to the consumers.
He, nevertheless, apprised relevant stakeholders that the department will be engaging the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the ‘charging fee’ proposition, so the industry could have a clearer picture of how much that would be in the successive consultation processes.
On the charging stations, the department was also quizzed if the country will just adopt one standard or there will be multiple charging station models that will be rolled out in the country.
As it is, Aquino noted that they will be considering the inputs and queries raised by the industry stakeholders and will integrate them in the revisions and in the finalization of the CREV.
“This is something that we’re working on in the comprehensive roadmap, which will include economic viability study. We’re still hoping to have that roadmap onboard within the year,” the energy official said.
He pointed out that inputs from its ally-government agencies, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) were already crafted and issued – and these will be incorporated in the final and comprehensive EV development and investment roadmap.
“We will integrate all inputs with respect to the viability of coming up with a single standard and the integration calls for distribution utilities…also, on the commercial concerns that were raised and how that would interact in incentivizing this,” Aquino said.
The DOE earlier issued its draft Circular on the guidelines of setting up charging infrastructure facilities – that shall cover both public and private domains, such as spaces in government offices and establishments, private properties that shall include malls and condominium buildings and even gasoline stations.
The department initially laid down that there must be at least four classifications of EV charging facilities, but that has generated most of the questions from the industry stakeholders and these are still subject to definitive and concrete decisions from the policy framers. (MMV)