[HN Gopher] Filipinos are embracing electric 3-wheelers faster t...
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Filipinos are embracing electric 3-wheelers faster than officials
can regulate
Author : PaulHoule
Score : 28 points
Date : 2024-09-15 18:14 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (restofworld.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (restofworld.org)
| lemme_tell_ya wrote:
| > The Philippines has been slow to adopt electric vehicles,
|
| That doesn't surprise me, anyone who has lived there knows how
| terrible the grid is. Brown-outs are a (frequent) fact of life,
| entire outages not uncommon. I've seen the Manila Airport lose
| power on multiple occasions while waiting to get on a flight.
|
| What does surprise me is the slow adoption to solar power, my
| guess is that the grid isn't prepared for that either, and off-
| grid setups can be fairly expensive for many that need it most.
| Robotbeat wrote:
| Off-grid can be pretty simple and cheap using "solar
| generators."
| klingoff wrote:
| The car EVs try to be in a price class above a Toyota
| subcompact so I think they can't really compete for the taxi
| volume, etc, before any logistics.
|
| EVs would be fine with a few hours of outage here and there,
| but the light EVs are going to be easier to move to battery
| swapping if needed and are price competitive with vehicles in
| classes that already sell well in the Philippines.
| nathanaldensr wrote:
| Even saying there is a "grid" here is making a mistake, insofar
| as it gives one the impression of a planned, engineered,
| professional approach to power delivery. This is simply not the
| case. Like most things in the Philippines, the power "grid" is
| just _barely_ functional, with tree-cutting, storms, and
| incompetence enough to turn off the lights for hours and even
| days.
| patrakov wrote:
| Not only good off-grid solar setups are expensive, but
| installers also cut every corner possible and impossible in
| order to drive the cost down no matter whether the result is
| safe. For example, they will sell you an inverter with a step-
| approximated "sine wave" output if you don't ask otherwise, and
| will connect it to the battery directly, bypassing the
| controller that protects it from too much discharge, because
| that controller is not powerful enough.
| Freestyler_3 wrote:
| I was in Manila last month, didn't see any electric vehicles.
|
| The jeepney isnt exactly enviroment friendly, but it gets the job
| done and is easy to repair/maintain. Thats where the focus is in
| that kind of economy.
| riffic wrote:
| anecdotally electric scooters are quite popular in my neck of the
| woods and if I were to "skate where the puck is going to be",
| that'd be a place worth skating to.
|
| This seems like a similar situation.
| seanvelasco wrote:
| These types of vehicles have been banned from main roads in Metro
| Manila since April.
|
| The problem is, people without a driver's license can operate
| them, owing to the "bike" classification or lack of vehicle
| classification. Imagine a person who lacks knowledge of traffic
| rules driving a heavy, high-speed vehicle on chaotic Philippine
| roads.
|
| The typical use-case of these vehicle is "hatid-sundo," or
| parents driving their children to and from school. I have yet to
| see a driver or the children wear helmets.
|
| However, soon these vehicles will require registration and proper
| classification, and only licensed drivers will be permitted to
| operate them.
|
| On a separate note, Tesla started posting local job listings a
| few days ago, hinting expansion in the country.
| gedy wrote:
| > Imagine a person who lacks knowledge of traffic rules driving
| a heavy, high-speed vehicle on chaotic Philippine roads.
|
| Sounds like normal in Southeast Asia? Totally chaotic and an
| e-bike/trike sounds preferable imho.
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(page generated 2024-09-15 23:01 UTC)