Kia Philippines’ launch of the EV6 is the Korean automaker’s and its Philippine distributor, Ayala Corporation’s first step towards a future centered around sustainable mobility. It also represents years of planning that’s not limited to just bringing forth an all-electric vehicle to market, but also to make sure the right ecosystem is in place to support it.

Consing says that Ayala Corporation laid down the foundations for sustainable motoring in 2021, when wholly-owned subsidiary, Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. or IMI started assembling the Greenstrum-branded EV chargers in Laguna.

From there, Consing notes that Ayala Land was quick to roll out EV chargers at key locations around Luzon. The network, found at various Ayala Land-owned or operated office buildings, estates, retail malls, and hotels use either 22-kilowatt AC chargers or 60-kilowatt DC chargers. To date, there are at least 14 locations including one as far south as Nuvali in Santa Rosa, and one as far north as Baguio City.

Then, it was just all about bringing the right product in, and that’s where the Kia EV6 comes in.

“The global Kia EV6 comes in three variants, but among the three, the EV6 GT-Line has the longest range at 528 kilometers, and this is where it becomes very practical,” says Manny Aligada, President of Kia Philippines. “Consider a daily drive of 50 kilometers, say you live in Alabang and drive to your office in BGC or Makati every day. By the time you get back home in the evening, you would have consumed only 10 percent of its power capacity. While you are resting for the night, you can plug this, using the charging cable that comes with the car, into your regular home outlet and by the time you wake up, it will be fully charged.”

Aligada also mentioned that aside from its low power consumption, its 5-year Preventive Maintenance Cost is just P 25,000—much lower than a comparative sized internal combustion engine car. But as a bonus, Kia Philippines will be offering it for free for the first five years.

Compared to other brands, which limited the sale of their EV offerings to just a handful of dealerships, sales of the EV6 is open to every Kia dealership nationwide, opening up the opportunity for more Filipinos to try what’s considered by many the future of motoring.

“The EV6 will be available in all 42 Kia dealers nationwide but we have initially assigned four dedicated Kia EV dealers located in New Manila in Quezon City, Alabang in Muntinlupa, Sto. Tomas, Batangas in South Luzon and Pampanga in North Luzon. These four dealers are fully equipped with tools and systems to handle any technical requirement you may have for service, and its staff is fully trained by Kia Philippines. This full-service capability will be expanded to other dealers very soon,” continued Aligada.

AC Motors, Ayala Corporation’s mobility arm which handles not just Kia, but brands such as Volkswagen and Maxus among others thinks it’s the right time to bring in EVs. Its president, Toti Zara lauds the government’s decision to pass Executive Order 12 which removed the import duties of EVs.

“We’re bullish,” says Zara. “My fearless forecast is that for the first few years, we’ll see a spike in the interest surrounding electric vehicles. I’d say that in the next three to five years, around 10 percent of new vehicle sales will be electric.”

If Zara’s prediction holds true, that would mean that for an industry that reports around 400,000 new vehicle sales annually, around 40,000 of them would be fully-electric. Currently, the Philippines has around 9,000 registered EVs.

Ambitious as those numbers are, if the reception of the Kia EV6 is any indication, it could very well happen. Zara says they’ve managed to sell out the all-electric mid-sized crossover’s allocation, at least for the first few months. It’s understood that at least 20 of them are heading to various executives within Ayala Corporation.

Zara says AC Motors’ EV offering won’t be limited to the EV6 alone. They will be launching more EVs across their brand portfolio “in due time.”

AC Motors’ optimism is shared by Joey Hong, Kia Asia Pacific’s Head of Sales.

“Kia’s vision to become a global leading eco-friendly mobility solution provider is not just our dream any more. It is an achievable future that is strongly supported by our customers who feel exactly the same as we do about our future, environment, and sustainability. Together with the many upcoming electric vehicle models which we will introduce shortly to the market, we are fully ready to begin a whole new journey, for a better future,” says Hong.

“Kia Philippines—with the EV6 as its flagship vehicle, will lead other Kia models in showcasing the brand’s technology, innovation, design direction, and the overall package that Kia has to offer to its market. I am confident to say that with the Ayala Group’s strong electric vehicle eco-system, the EV6 will be warmly welcomed by the Filipinos—as we head towards a sustainable and zero-emission road in the Philippines,” he continued.