On the road to electrification

For years, electrified vehicles in the Philippines were easy to cover as launch stories.

- By IAN MAGBANUA

MIKKO DAVID uses a Kia e-Niro EV as his company car in Brunei.

A new model arrives, a range figure leads the headline, and the conversation quickly turns to where to charge and whether the infrastructure is ready.As more owners live with hybrids, plugin hybrids, and full EVs day after day, the story becomes less about what is new and more about what changes in personal mobility once the technology moves into a household.

That is the space Manila Bulletin Drive increasingly occupies. The shift is most visible in the experiences of early adopters who decide to take the leap, and here, two owners show how different that transition can look, even when both end up less dependent on gasoline than before. Their accounts sit at the front end of a change that will likely define the next chapter of Filipino motoring.

Edwin Hufemia's week starts with distance. He lives in Silang, Cavite, and drives to Makati and back, a round trip of around 100 kilometers a day that can take about 1.5 hours each way. His interest in electrification goes back to his years in college, where he was influenced by UPLB professor Dr. Victor Luis, whose work in waste management and wastewater treatment pushed him to think about environmental impact.

For years, Hufemia wanted a Toyota Prius, but he describes himself as cost-conscious and said the price premium never felt realistic when he compared it to the expected fuel savings so he remained a conventional-car owner who was already looking toward electrification long before most people were.