If we won’t be traveling any faster than 60 km/h in the city anyway, what’s the point of spending more on the performance you will hardly use?
I cruised along Skyway Stage 3 from Quezon City to Sucat the other night, and it dawned on me that car owners now have the fastest way to get around Metro Manila, yet we are limited to a speed of 60 km/h.
This realization got me thinking. What’s the point of buying a daily driven car with the performance, build, and ability to achieve a top speed of 180 to 200 km/h when you are only allowed to use a third of that at any given time in the city?
Are today’s cars over-engineered? And are we paying too much for cars and using only a fraction of their abilities 90% of the time?
Back in the early 1990s, the Philippine government, through its People’s Car Program, allowed brands like Daewoo, Daihatsu, Fiat, Kia, Honda, and Proton to enter the market and set up manufacturing facilities. The Daewoo Racer, Daihatsu Charade, Fiat Uno, Kia Pride, Honda Civic EF and EG, and the Proton Wira were all products of this initiative. It allowed the masses to own a decent car for around PHP 300,000 or about PHP 1.2 million in today’s money.
Thanks to trade liberalization and globalization, we can buy stronger, more efficient, and safer cars for less than that amount. We now have a multitude of choices to spend our hard-earned money. Much to the detriment of the local manufacturing industry, though.
While the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program sought to entice car manufacturers to produce cars locally through incentives, it never really took off, with only two out of three possible slots taken by Toyota and Mitsubishi. We have the Vios and the Mirage as offshoots of this scheme.
Given the horrendous daily traffic that saps away our wages through wasted time and fuel, should we rethink what kind of mobility our cities and urban centers need? Looking at the trend towards electrification, environmental awareness, and the clamor for sustainability, perhaps the government should focus instead on enticing local EV production.
The global automotive industry is at the cusp of disruption, with electric vehicle sales rising yearly. It is difficult to turn a blind eye to the 107% rise in global EV sales from 2020 to 2021. And the trend is forecasted to continue in the next few years.
There’s increasing local interest in EVs, with the current unstable gas and diesel prices. Moreover, the experience of having clean air during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns made more people consider switching to EVs. There is also an increasing number of electric scooters on the road due to the need for quick mobility without the pain of paying for gasoline or maintenance.
But there’s one catch. Most of the EVs available in the market today are beyond the reach of the middle class. The Porsche Taycan, BMW iX, Audi e-tron, and the Jaguar I-PACE, are well into luxury pricing. Even the BYD Dolphin sells for Php 1.798 million. The government should consider creating a plan similar to the People’s Car Program thirty years ago, where local assembly of sub-one million-peso EVs is supported through fiscal incentives.
The grey market is already teeming with inquiries about one of China’s most popular electric vehicles, the Wuling Mini EV. Enterprising business people have been importing and selling these cheap, decent EVs for Php 680,000. With a range of 170 kilometers, it is more than enough for commuting from home to work in the city for a day or two. With its zero emissions, a small EV certainly doesn’t add to the smog prevailing in the metro. And with air conditioning, a radio, and seating for four, albeit for small people at the back, it is just the right size to drive around our tight urban streets. It takes up less space on the road than an average sedan and should be cheaper to maintain.
And many more models in China are built around the same formula. Chery Philippines has already indicated its interest in taking advantage of the incentives under the EVIDA Law to manufacture EVs in the country. Perhaps it is time to give the law and its implementing rules and regulations more teeth to entice business people and corporations to invest in this endeavor.
For mass adoption of EVs to happen, they must become as affordable as a Vios, a Mirage, or maybe even a Suzuki S-Presso. And one way to make basic EVs more affordable is to manufacture them locally.
Another way to enable mass adoption is to wean people into considering EVs as a viable alternative. Suppose the government is serious about curbing air pollution by making people purchase and use EVs. Why not incentivize the people who buy EVs or hybrids in urban centers by giving them tax cuts and rebates like in other countries? Or revise the excise tax rates according to the amount of a car’s CO2 emissions? Maybe even include an air quality tax on internal combustion engines registered in urban centers.
If we won’t be traveling any faster than 60 km/h in the city anyway, what’s the point of spending more on the performance you will hardly use? And in a tight and crowded urban jungle such as Metro Manila, you don’t need a car that goes beyond 100 km/h. You just need a vehicle that will get you from point A to B comfortably and with little impact on the environment.
In the car market today, gadgets and gizmos sell. Blame that on marketing. But do you know what else will sell in the future? Practicality and freedom.
