President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed an executive order establishing the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS), a programme worth up to 60 billion pesos (roughly €852 million at current exchange rates). It aims to turn the Philippines into a regional automotive manufacturing hub by subsidising the local production of battery‑electric, hybrid, plug‑in hybrid and fuel‑cell vehicles, as well as their parts and components.
The EVIS programme: what it offers
Car companies can apply for two forms of support, both delivered as non‑transferable Tax Payment Certificates that can be used to offset income tax, VAT, excise duties and import tariffs — no direct cash handouts.
- Fixed Investment Support (FIS): reimburses up to 40 % of eligible capital expenditure for pure electric vehicles and their components; hybrid, plug‑in hybrid and fuel‑cell projects qualify for up to 30 %. Covered costs include tooling, manufacturing equipment, R&D, workforce training and start‑up expenses — but not land purchases.
- Production Volume Incentive (PVI): worth up to 12 % of the ex‑factory vehicle price, capped at 200,000 pesos per car. Both incentives can run for up to ten years.
To keep the scheme focused, each manufacturer is limited to 15 billion pesos of support and may register at most two vehicle models. If applications exceed the available funds, the government will select up to four manufacturers based on investment size, production plans, economic impact, job creation and compliance with national and international standards.
Qualifying is demanding. Applicants must commit at least 5 billion pesos of new investment, start production of the registered model within three years, and maintain a minimum production capacity of 10,000 vehicles per year. They also need to present an after‑sales plan that includes battery disposal or recycling and spare‑parts availability for at least ten years — a detail that directly protects future owners.
What does this mean for the people who will build and buy the cars?
For the Philippines, the promise is straightforward: local jobs, a new industrial base and cheaper electric vehicles. The ten‑year spare‑parts guarantee and mandatory recycling plan give families the same kind of long‑term confidence that established brands already offer in Europe.
“We’re not just throwing money at factories,” is the underlying message of the tight eligibility rules. By capping the programme at four winners, the government wants serious, large‑scale projects — not scattered small assembly lines. The hope is that once one global manufacturer commits, suppliers will follow, creating a self‑reinforcing cluster similar to what Thailand has done with conventional cars.
Putting the numbers in perspective
The total €852 million purse may sound abstract, so here is a comparison our own data helps to illustrate. Earlier this summer, Devon and Torbay in southwestern England announced a £38 million investment to install nearly 3,000 public EV chargers. At today’s exchange rate, that is about €44 million. The Philippines manufacturing pot could therefore fund almost twenty such charger rollouts — a reminder that building cars needs a different scale of money than building plugs. Both are necessary, and both stories are part of the same accelerating shift towards electric mobility.
This new programme also echoes what the United States has tried with its Inflation Reduction Act: generous production incentives linked to local content. Our coverage of Hyundai and Kia’s recent US sales showed how quickly a manufacturer can pivot when the financial logic changes. The Philippines is now placing its own bet that the same logic will work in Southeast Asia.
The bigger picture
The Philippines is entering a race where neighbours such as Indonesia and Thailand already have a head start — especially in battery materials and conventional car assembly. However, its large domestic market (115 million people), young workforce and geographic position make it a credible contender.
For European families, a successful programme could eventually bring more competitively priced small electric cars onto the global market, though that is years away. In the meantime, the practical takeaway is simple: as more countries build their own EV manufacturing capacity, the variety of models available to all of us is only going to grow. You can already explore the expanding choice in our EV catalogue, or use our charging station map to plan a journey — whether that’s to the Devon coast or much further afield one day.
Further details of the executive order are available on the Philippines’ Official Gazette and in coverage by Nikkei Asia.
