“Now that the Nissan LEAF is here, the next phase of our electrification plans for the country involve continuously educating the public about the benefits of EVs, while making the Nissan LEAF accessible to more parts of the country through our Nissan EV dealerships,” said Najima.

Najima reiterates that for EVs to succeed, dealerships must educate customers especially with regards to its ownership and maintenance requirements. This is something shared by Nissan Philippines’ EV dealership partner, Gateway Group.

“As a pioneer EV dealer, we face a challenging yet exciting task of educating our community on the benefits of sustainable mobility,” said Michael Goho, Executive Vice President of Gateway Group. “It takes passionate and dedicated people who believe in sustainable mobility to make EV adoption and a reality.”

Nissan currently sells the Nissan LEAF in six EV dealerships around the country: Cebu; Mantrade Makati, Otis Manila, and Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila; and Tagum and Matina in Mindanao.

All these Nissan EV dealerships having charging stations free and exclusive for the use of LEAF customers. This means that Nissan has currently the widest and largest EV charging infrastructure network in the country. This network of EV dealerships and charging stations is expected to keep growing as the brand offers the LEAF in more parts of the Philippines in the future.

With the right product and places to put its electrification strategy into action, Nissan is now looking for potential partners to amplify the brand’s goal of creating a sustainable and resilient society. Nissan sees collaborating with government and the private sector as the next step towards fully realizing its vision.

Najima cites the company’s Blue Switch program in Japan as the potential next chapter of electrification strategy for the Philippines. Launched in Japan last May 2018, the Blue Switch project built partnerships with various private and public stakeholders in Japan to promote the use of electric vehicles and address social concerns such as disaster response, energy management, climate change, and eco-tourism.

“We are not just offering our customers a zero-emissions vehicle with the Nissan LEAF, and a nationwide EV charging network through our EV dealerships. We are also looking at building a network of partners here in the Philippines for sustainability and resilience, unlocking the potential for EV technology to address social concerns,” Najima concluded.