Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines director Ferdinand Raquelsantos said that they are planning to mass produce a locally designed and developed E-Jeepney in the coming months.
The E-Jeepney has been developed by them in conjunction with Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP). This locally developed E-Jeepney is currently being pilot tested in the Legaspi Village route in Makati City.
The E-Jeepney, having been classified as a slow moving vehicle by the Land Transportation office, can only legally ply villages and subdivisions and are barred from entering highways and expressways.
Although classified as clean transportation because of it not using fossil fuels, detractors to the electric vehicle have tossed accusations of it not being practical and environmentally friendly because of it use of chemical batteries. Which are harmful to the environment when disposed incorrectly and because battery performance degrades during use limiting its operational life.
The jeepney has long been a fixture of Filipino life and is a testament to his industriousness. The jeepney evolved from leftover WWII Jeep’s left behind by the Americans and lovingly transformed to passenger vehicles. Now they are mostly built in local machine shops, still with used engine parts and aside from slight expansion of the chassis to accommodate more passengers and switching over to surplus diesel engines for better fuel economy there is little difference with the modern jeepney from its world war II fore bearer.
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Category: Automotive, Electric Car
