Saving the humble jeepney by going electric

Cebu’s Aboitiz Group, best known these days for its power interests, has had a keen interest in expanding in transport infrastructure. Unfortunately, the plan has been hampered by current government policies, which have made this initiative somewhat more restrictive than in the past.

Good thing there’s the humble jeepney.

An Aboitiz-led venture plans to unveil next week more details on a massive plan to transform the iconic but sadly outdated jeepney vehicles plying our roads. Specifically, a company called QEV Philippines—a venture led by Endika Aboitiz, Enrique Banuelos and Jose Maria Roger—wants to partner with local jeepney manufacturers to shift some 50,000 diesel jeepneys into cleaner electric-powered vehicles “at a reasonable cost.”

QEV is an international company formed by Banuelos to install electric charging stations. They are present in Europe and South America and the technology was developed by Banuelos and Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) as a result of their working together to launch F2 electric racing cars, which race in circuits worldwide.

Early this year, the company sent one jeepney to its Barcelona research and development center to study how to convert them into electric vehicles. And more recently, their engineers worked with the pioneer jeepney manufacturing firm Sarao to produce a prototype electric public transport vehicle that is efficient, clean and modern. QEVTech will put up chargers for the e-jeepneys in Ayala and SM malls and Shell stations. These can charge an e-jeepney in slightly over 10 minutes. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS AND DAXIM L. LUCAS