THE BUILD Your Dreams Philippines (BYD), in partnership with Ayala Corporation, introduced electrical vehicles (EVs) in Davao City for cleaner, sustainable, and eco-friendly transportation.
In a press conference at BYD Davao on July 6, ACMobility corporate communications manager Mikko David emphasized the advantages of using EVs and the shift to electrification moving forward to the future.
In David’s presentation, the number of global electric car sales in 2023 was 14 million with an increase of 35% of EV sales from 2022 to 2023.
In the Philippines, the EV growth is primarily driven by BYD, which sells 1 in every two EVs in the country. To date, the Chinese manufacturer has captured 68% of the more than 200 electric vehicles sold each month.
The most popular model of the car manufacturer is the BYD Atto 3 with a base price of under P1.6 million.
David added that the reception of EVs in Davao City is positive based on BYD Davao’s performance and historical sales. Davao City currently has two charging stations for EVs with plans to install more charging stations in Mindanao and Visayas in the future. They will also consider electrical pickup trucks for Mindanao soon as David noted numerous pickup trucks in the countryside.
Rodger Velasco, Davao Light Power Co.’s chief operations officer, remarked about building the infrastructure needed for the widespread adoption of EVs for the next generation of innovators to push the boundaries and trigger a revolutionary shift toward sustainable mobility.
“This is well aligned also with our AboitizPower distribution massive transformative purpose and that is to empower the evolution of our cities, and one of which is the adoption of electric vehicles. One electric vehicle at a time,” Velasco said.
Republic Act No. 11697, or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act declares policies to reduce reliance on imported fuel and dependence on fossil fuels.
BYD was founded by Wang Chuanfu in 1995 and began as a battery manufacturing company. BYD is the top car manufacturer in China, outselling Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Photos: Bing Gonzales
