PH Needs Battery Stations for E-bikes

For Yamaha Motor Philippines Inc. (YMPH) President Hiroshi Koike, lawmakers should take into account the disposal of e-bike batteries.

“We need to think a lot before bringing these (e-bikes) in; we need to think about how to have battery stations,”  mentioned Koike.

“As a manufacturer, we (also) need to think about how to collect the battery because when we talk about saving the environment, which is supposed to be the objective of EVs [electric vehicles], there is no point if people start throwing out the batteries everywhere. It’s not good for the environment.”

Koike says that Yamaha is currently manufacturing e-bikes in Vietnam.

He also notes that the EV rollout is “one of the options” in trimming carbon emissions. Koike goes on to mention that they are studying biofuel and hydrogen engines.

“There are different options and I think we should be open-minded and think what is best for society and customers as well.”

With regards to the zero tariff on electric vehicles (EV), Koike mentions that this would be lacking in terms of EV industry growth.

“It (zero tariffs) is better than nothing. But I don’t think it is enough. Simply speaking, if we were to come up with an e-bike that has a similar performance as the current internal combustion engine, the price would be double. A few percent would not offset those.”

According to Koike, the Philippines would have to invest more in infrastructure. He mentions that “We cannot do this alone. There are so many obstacles that need to be hurdled, tasks that need to be done. Everybody is working together to think about how to do this.”

Source: Business Mirror