Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction in the Visayas, particularly in Cebu City, due to its geographic characteristics that allow motorists to circle the island even twice without having to worry about range issues.
Edward G. Onglatco, president and CEO of Global Star Motors Corp.—the distributor of BYD in Cebu—believes that Cebu and the Visayan islands have a higher percentage of adaptability for EVs because there is no “range anxiety.” Global Star Motors is the first and only BYD distributorship in Cebu so far.
“The geographic characteristics of Cebu, with all the products that we have, you can even circle the island twice. With the range that we have now from 300km to 530km. For the pure EV plus the DM-Is go up to 1,200 kms,” he said. The average travel distance of every Cebuano is 20 km a day.
“You have no range anxiety actually, we don’t have that,” he said. Range anxiety refers to the fear that an EV will run out of battery charge before reaching its destination or a charging station. Charging is also not a problem because EVs can be charged at home.
Aside from having no range issue, Onglatco noted the competitive prices of BYD vehicles. They have two models priced below PHP1 million — the Seagull, a pure EV with a 300 km range, and the SEAL 5 DMI, which can go up to 1,100 km. “So, the traction in Visayas and the whole country is good,” he said.
Onglatco did not provide specific sales figures, except to say that their sales performance has been very satisfactory, even earning recognition from BYD headquarters last year.
He projects that 20 percent of the traditional market will soon be taken over by EVs, as a significant portion of new car buyers are now considering new energy vehicles. Of the new local buyers, 80 to 100 percent prefer to go for EVs.
