EV surge gains speed in PH

Registrations are rising fast this year. From January to July, the Land Transportation Office recorded 29,715 electrified vehicles of every type, already higher than the 24,000 counted for the whole of last year. EVAP says a realistic full-year mark is 35,000, helped by private fleets meeting the 5 percent requirement and government agencies starting to add EVs to their service pools. Battery EVs are also catching up to hybrids in registrations as more buyers accept home and public charging as part of daily use.

That momentum sets the stage for the 13th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit at SMX Pasay on October 23 to 25, 2025. The show will gather major brands such as BYD, GAC, Omoda & Jaecoo, and UAAGI’s BAIC, Chery, Foton, and Lynk & Co, alongside EV startups and accessory players from two wheels to four. Test drives and tech talks will anchor the program under the theme “Charge Ahead, Ignite the EVolution.”

Sales data back the optimism. Four-wheeled EV sales nearly tripled in 2024 to 3,880 units from 1,028 in 2023. Battery EVs made up three quarters of those sales, hybrids took almost a quarter, and plug-in hybrids filled the rest. On the lighter side of mobility, two- and three-wheeler sales exploded to 43,441 in 2024.

Infrastructure remains the pain point, yet progress is visible. The Department of Energy counts 992 active charging points nationwide made up of AC, DC, and battery swapping stations, with average fees of 23.27 pesos per kWh for AC, 33.76 for DC, and 53.46 for swapping. Many chargers sit inside malls, led by SM with 69 units and Ayala with 31, with clusters in Metro Manila and growing footprints in Cebu, Davao, and Bicol.

Targets are ambitious. CREVI is aiming for 7,300 charging stations by 2028 on the way to 20,400 by 2040 when the EV fleet could reach 2.5 million. The catch is funding. EVCS deployment is largely carried by the private sector, including malls, hotels, condos, and some car brands. That keeps the rollout moving, but the industry would welcome stronger public support to accelerate coverage beyond major urban centers.

Local manufacturing and incentives add new tailwinds. The country’s first lithium battery plant in Tarlac, operated by StB Giga Factory Inc., is ramping toward an annual capacity that could power 18,000 EVs. The Department of Trade and Industry’s proposed EV Incentive Strategy projects up to 11.4 trillion pesos in economic output and as many as 680,000 jobs across assembly, batteries, charging, and services if approved by the FIRB.

All told, the industry looks stronger than it did just a year ago. The network is bigger, the model mix is wider, and buyers are more confident. The gaps are clear too. Infrastructure, policy alignment, and broader access outside the big cities will decide how quickly the country moves from early adoption to mass market. As EVAP puts it, the sector is moving and not slowing down. The next phase will be about keeping that pace while making charging and ownership easier for everyone.