Electric vehicles hurdle uphill Baguio roads

By Jessa Mardy P. Samidan

BAGUIO CITY -- Another electric vehicle was tested in Baguio’s uphill road terrain Sept. 18 to 19 as part of the government’s efforts to adapt a sustainable transport system to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
    Engineer Thea Camiring of the City Engineering Office said the EV manufactured in Laguna was brought to Baguio for road worthiness test to promote low carbon Urban Transport Systems in the Philippines (LCT) Project – an environmental initiative co-implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Dept. of Transportation (DOTr) funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
    The EV with model name Panda manufactured by China 6/11 was tested on Sept. 18 along the Irisan main highway route and Minesview.
    On Sept. 19, the routes were along Loakan EPZA and Aurora Hill Bayan Park. Camiring said all trips were tested with 23 seating passengers and three to five standing passengers in full capacity.
    Per technical assessment, Camiring said the EV is suitable for 15 degrees slope or less such as at the central business district, Loakan and Aurora Hill.
    Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong had been a staunch advocate of low carbon urban transport systems, thus the series of road tests among EV units in Baguio City’s uphill terrain to check efficiency and cost-effectivity before these are adapted by partner transport cooperatives.
    Two EV test runs were conducted earlier this year in the city with different EV suppliers.
    The adaption of low carbon urban transport is in line with the city’s target to become the next Resilience Hub by 2026 under the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Making Cities Resilient project.