10 Shell stations to start offering e-vehicle charging

MANILA, Philippines — The partnership of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) and upstart firm QEV Philippines is putting up battery charging stations in 10 Shell gasoline stations this year.

PSPC president and chief executive officer Cesar Romero said the charging units would be supplied by ABB, a Swiss multinational company specializing in robotics power and automation technology areas.

“We expect the first few units to arrive in the second quarter.  But we hope to install a minimum of two to three by the first half so we can test them.”

The team earlier targeted to install 10 charging stations in December 2017.

Romero said the delay stemmed from securing permits, finalizing pricing and completing technical analysis on the charging stations.

In October 2017, QEV Philippines and PSPC forged a deal for 100 pilot sites for the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

In that same month, QEV Philippines also teamed up with Sy-led SM Supermalls to install EV fast-charging stations in at least 100 mall branches across the country.

Under the deal, charging stations will be made available to mall goers to plug in compatible e-vehicles as early as February 2018.

QEV Philippines, a partnership between businessmen Endika Aboitiz and Enrique Banuelos, launched the “green jeepney,” which is aimed at replacing diesel-fueled jeepneys on roads.

It has partnered with local jeepney manufacturers, including Sarao Inc., to transform existing diesel-fueled jeepneys to e-jeepneys, which have zero-carbon emissions and run on 100 percent electricity.

QEV proposed the conversion of an initial 50,000 jeepneys over five years, or 10,000 jeepneys annually starting next year, by replacing their diesel engines with lithium-ion batteries.

It is seeking government assistance to convert the first 10,000 jeepneys to e-jeepneys — estimated to cost P6 billion — starting this year.