TelecommuniCations giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) will start utilizing environment-friendly electric vehicles (EV) to augment its present fleet of service vehicles.
The company said Tuesday the EVs will initially be assigned to selected service personnel handling home broadband installation and repair within Metro Manila.
EVs have lower carbon emissions compared with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE).
“As part of PLDT’s efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, we have developed a re-fleeting strategy that will pilot the use of electric vehicles. While the upfront cost of an EV may seem higher compared to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, we considered the total cost of ownership and the benefit to the environment,” said Melissa Vergel De Dios, PLDT Investor Relations Head and Head of the Sustainability Office.
As EV technology matures and with the improvement of the supporting infrastructure like the availability of charging stations nationwide, PLDT’s Green Fleet Program will involve adding more EVs to its fleet.
These efforts to use electric vehicles in the company’s operations underscore PLDT’s commitment to help the Philippines meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals particularly UNSDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and UNSDG 13 on (Climate Action).
The Department of Energy has engaged stakeholders to craft a policy on EV charging stations. It has published the proposed framework last month, paving the way for the government to incentivize investments in EV charging stations.
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