Tricycles in the Philippines are a familiar mode of commuting vehicles and apparently one of the busiest districts of the Philippines metropolis is considering the shift towards electric tricycles. Incidentally, there was already a semblance of shift in terms of electric transportation in 2007 as the Makati government had already launched electric mini-jeepneys. So this new focus seems likely to follow the same trend.

A prototype of the “e-trike” was displayed after a motorcade of electrical-powered vehicles went around Metro Manila to promote clean air as part of yesterday’s Earth Day celebration. After a successful test run of the eight-seater e-trike called “Aerocab” which runs up to 85 kilometers per hour, city transportation consultant Ernesto Camarillo said Makati would soon acquire two of the vehicles.

“Once we complete the technical tests and the Land Transportation Office requirements, we’ll encourage tricycle drivers to shift to the Aerocab. We still have to check because it has to be competitive with regular tricycles [in terms of cost and maintenance],” he added.

He could not say, however, how much the locally manufactured Aerocab would cost although the e-trikes launched last year in Taguig City and Palawan ranged from P80,000 to P140,000 each. Taguig later bought nearly 200 e-trikes.

“The city has money for the environment, but the investment will be quite big,” Camarillo said.

(Source) Inquirer