DOE: eTrikes will boost daily income of drivers

CEBU, Philippines - The e-trike (electronic tricycle) project of the Department of Energy is seen to boost the daily income of the tricycle drivers because less fuel is consumed and the vehicle is more efficient resulting to more trips.

This is according to Eduardo Amante, chief of the energy resource development and utilization division of the Department of Energy-7. He said because e-trikes use a battery that can just be recharged, tricycle drivers are spared from the high cost of fuel which significantly impacts their daily income.

In the case of Mandaluyong City, which is the pilot area for the first e-trikes plying in the country, tricycle drivers there earned P445 for their daily average net income.

Amante said that before e-trikes the tricycle drivers spent an average of P250 per day on fuel alone but when they drove the e-trikes, they only spend P50 a day for charging their battery.

The average daily trip for a two-kilometer route by the same e-trike drivers in Mandaluyong City is eight trips and their average daily income is P720 a day.

“So the tricycle drivers have a daily savings of P200 which is already a substantial amount for other basic needs,” Amante said.

The P720 per day amount is deducted P225 per day to pay for the loan amortization of the e-trike, according to Amante.

The 20 e-trikes in Mandaluyong City are financed by the Asian Development Bank as the latter wants to work with local government units to provide funding for the e-trike production for registered tricycle drivers under a lease-to-own financing mechanism.

DOE-7 Regional Director Antonio Labios said that there are e-trikes already operating in other areas in the country such as in Puerto Princesa, Makati City, Surigao and in Taguig.

Though Labios said the e-trikes are more applicable in secondary cities where tricycles are more popular as the mode of transport, some urbanized cities can also benefit from the project.

Labios cited Cebu which is a highly urbanized metropolis but there are certain sections in the cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Talisay where tricycles are being used as public transport.

Labios urged the Cebuanos to join the DOE national contest on the Best E-Trike Design set on February 24, their agency will go wider in the implementation of the E-trike Project starting with a massive advocacy campaign to the local government units.

Labios said the government through the DOE is promoting the use of e-trikes because fuel consumption lessened and there is no smoke emission that causes air pollution.

Labios said with the use of e-trikes he hopes to see the gradual phase-out of conventional tricycles although he did not disclose a timeline.

On top of reducing our dependence on fuel imports, e-trikes are also environmentally-friendly because it does not discharge smoke so no carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, Labios said. (FREEMAN)