Japanese e-trike maker to invest P4.4-B in PH BEET President and CEO Tokushi Nakashima (right) visited the LTO office to register the company’s first electric tricycle. He also met with LTO Assistant Secretary Virginia Torres (middle) and LTO Operations Division Officer-in-Charge Menelia Mortel. MANILA, Philippines - Japanese electric vehicle startup BEET Philippine Inc. has introduced its electric tricycle, which is powered by lithium battery and AC motor, in the Philippines. In a statement, BEET Philippine said it committed to investing P4.4 billion (¥10 B) in the Philippines. The company plans to produce an initial batch of 5,000 electric tricycles, which are expected to be commercially available by April 2014. BEET is also planning to hire 1,000 employees and produce 150,000 electric tricycles within the next five years. The company has already registered the e-trike with the Land Transportation Office (LTO). BEET is the first Japanese company in the country to register an e-trike. The BEET e-trike has five main components: lithium ion battery, AC motor, inverter, vehicle control unit (VCU), and battery management system (BMS), which keep the e-trike stable through various road and weather conditions. "These components will be provided by the leading companies from Japan with great considerations for safety. The latest technology allows lithium ion batteries to run stable under high temperature and humidity climates, while the BMS has safety functions to control irregular battery conditions. Air-cooled AC motors, which are more powerful, allow drivers to drive up a steep incline easily," Tokushi Nakashima, President and CEO of BEET Philippine Inc., said. "The inverter controls the motor resulting in an increased efficient power conversion. The VCU with its fail-safe function manages and controls the whole vehicle and makes regenerative braking possible. Various problems related to batteries, motor controllers, or the motor can be solved using BEET’s advanced technology," he further explained. Nakashima, who has 15 years of electric vehicle development experience in Japan, established BEET Philippine Inc. last March 2013 to popularize the use of commercial electric vehicles in the Philippines. He said the company continues to get data from tricycle drivers, and uses this for product development "BEET continually makes efforts to increase driver’s income and reduce fuel expenses to improve the driver’s livelihood and the environment as well," Nakashima said. "Our mission is to lead innovation through our e-trikes in the Philippines while incorporating the various latest technologies. The Philippines will become the first country where we hope BEET can make a positive contribution to the environment and to economic development. We are looking to expand our business in Asia, and from there to other regions around the world" he added. In the Philippines, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already announced it would finance 100,000 units for electric tricycles. The National Economic and Development Authority has already approved a P21.67 billion E-Trike project, which promotes sustainable urban transport.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 07:26:46 +0000
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