The Electric Vehicles Summit (EVap) Talks
Focus recently presented at the Electric Vehicles Summit held in Manila by the Electric Vehicles Manufacturers Association of the Philippines. The talk focused on the challenges resulting from the uncontrolled and rapid growth of the light duty electric 2- and 3-wheelers in South East Asia. Results from a recent joint Focus-MIROS (Malaysia Institute of Road Safety Research) study were presented indicating that these vehicles are favored by relatively older (more than 50 years) and very young drivers (under 18) as opposed to conventional motorcycles which are favored by riders in the range of 18-50 years old. Poor quality and short battery life were the major customer complaints. Suggestions were put forth to implement minimum quality standards, specifically relating to the batteries, as well as recommendations for road usage, licensing and registration. Once again we made a call for greater ASEAN level integration, which was backed up by representatives of both the UN and Clean Air Initiative Asia. .
