At the recently-concluded Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit, there were noticeable displays of electric vehicle products of new foreign companies who wish to get a slice of the 1.2 million strong tricycle market in the Philippines.

Rommel Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines said that these new foreign EV players must have realized that a target of just 10 percent of the market or 120,000 regular tricycles for replacement by ETrikes would still be a substantial market over the next few years.

“Recognizing the potential of the domestic tricycle market, we have noticed that more and more foreign EV players are now entering the market, catalyzing our plan of becoming the EV hub of Asia”, he adds. “We at EVAP have always made it our major thrust to invite more foreign players into the country, not only to get foreign investments but also to gain more technical knowledge and uplift the standards of EVs in the country”.

First is Hongkong-based Kyto Green Technologies. Kyto was founded by Grayson Richards who originally came from the aerospace industry and then moved into automotive design. Together with John Bennett, Kyto managing director who has a vast experience in the auto industry, they designed and developed a new ETrike specifically for the Philippine market.

The four-seater ETrike is beautifully designed with a tubular frame and thermoformed plastic body panels for a lighter overall weight but without compromising strength and structural integrity. The sporty, yellow-colored Kyto ETrike made a lot of heads turn at the EV Summit. It promises to be the fresh, new look that the industry is looking for.

Next is PrimeGreen Power and Technology Inc. This Kuwait-based company has facilities in Clark Industrial Zone in Pampanga. It imports components from its sister company in China and then assembles its ETrikes in the Philippines. Wilson Varghese, PrimeGreen president and CEO says that they have different EV models to suit the different needs of the end users.

The third company SunEtrike is run by Canada natives Clayton Gray and Phil Gray, Director for Marketing. Their business model includes setting up dealerships selling complete ETrike systems, including a battery charging system that uses solar energy. It is a complete sustainable energy loop that gets its energy from a clean source such as solar then uses it for clean transport such as ETrikes.

Last but not the least is Singapore-based Clean Air Transport Solutions (CATS) headed by British national Mr. Robin Hughes. CATS not only introduced its three-wheeler ETrikes but also its four-wheeler models intended for EJeepney and UV Express shuttle applications.

They will also offer fast charging and battery swapping arrangements. Also available are an air conditioning option for the four-wheeler variants and a ceiling fan option for the three-wheeler variants. CATS boldly proclaims that they will never recharge their batteries where there is a risk of depleting the grid capacity needed to meet domestic or industrial power needs.

Juan adds that these four new foreign companies have seen the potential of the Philippines for electric vehicles and have committed not only to do business in the country but to help in the protection of the environment as well.