Are electric vehicles finally ready for the mainstream in the Philippines?

If you've been in a Metro Manila traffic jam anytime in the last few months—and honestly, who hasn't—you'll probably have noticed a growing number of interesting new makes and models amongst the cars around you.

- By LUIS BUENAVENTURA

This silent-running, green-plated smorgasbord includes newcomers like BYD, Tesla, Dongfeng, and Vinfast, as well as legacy manufacturers like Hyundai, Kia, and Nissan—all of them sporting electric motors and battery packs under the hood.

Their growing popularity is the result of both a strong government incentive program and the fact that they are objectively superior to most of their fuel-based counterparts: they're coding-exempt and cheap to own.

By most calculations, replacing your gas car with an EV reduces your operational costs by more than 50%.

This includes obvious things like the cost of electricity versus the cost of fuel, as well as periodic maintenance activities like oil changes and tune-ups, which simply disappear.

Even your brake pads last twice as long on an EV, because the motor assists in deceleration (and even recharges the battery while it's at it).

AN ACCELERATED ROLL-OUT

It's been two years since the Chinese giant BYD first launched here in the Philippines, and just under a year since American-made Tesla's own debut.

The two brands are leading the pack in terms of units sold, although, as is the case in most other arenas, the Chinese are in a class of their own.

Offered locally in partnership with Ayala Corp, BYD is the only EV manufacturer in the country to have reportedly crested five digits.

Their rapid expansion has seen showrooms as far south as GenSan, with 30 dealerships overall.

Tesla meanwhile announced that it had just recently released its 1,000th car from its one and only showroom in Uptown, BGC.

But personal transportation is not the only area where EVs are becoming more visible.

In April, Valenzuela City purchased 41 of BYD's ultra-compact Dolphin model for its police force and city officials.

In June, the Vietnamese upstart Vinfast launched its Green GSM electric taxi service, reportedly operating a fleet 2,500-strong.