Electric vehicle sales in the Philippines are rising quickly as fuel costs climb, government and industry officials said.
Registrations more than doubled this year, and EVs now make up almost a quarter of passenger car sales.
Gasoline prices have climbed 68.3 percent since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, data from globalpetrolprices.com showed. That is the fourth-highest increase worldwide.
Patrick Aquino, director of the energy ministry’s Energy Utilization Management Bureau, said EV registrations, including hybrids, jumped 130 percent year on year to over 67,000 in the eight months through August.
BYD delivered 28,399 units in the same period, almost double last year’s figure, said Bob Palanca, managing director of BYD Cars Philippines. He added that the company beat its full 2025 sales target four months early.
Carla Buencamino, head of mobility infrastructure at ACMobility, said EVs took nearly 25 percent of car sales this year, up from 12 percent in 2025 and 4 percent in 2024.
The government wants EVs to make up half of taxi fleets and official cars by 2030, Aquino said. The energy ministry also wants EV imports to stay duty-free past the 2028 expiry of the current exemption.