Electric motorcycles and bicycles are displayed at the Pedal UP Bike expo in UP Diliman, Quezon City on May 5, 2024. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA -- Electric motorcycles and e-bicycles may soon become more affordable as the government includes them in the list of vehicles that can be imported into the Philippines tariff-free.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board announced on Thursday that it has decided to keep tariff rates at zero until 2028 for 34 tariff lines of battery electric vehicles (EVs) currently covered under Executive Order 12.

The NEDA Board also agreed to expand the list of EVs with zero tariffs until 2028 to include e-motorcycles and e-bicycles, and nickel metal hydride accumulators.

The executive order temporarily modified the rates of import duty on electric vehicles (EVs), their parts, and components under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

Battery e-tricycles and quadricycles, battery, hybrid EV (HEV) and plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV) jeepneys/buses, HEV and PHEV cars and trucks, and as completely knocked down (CKD) EVs for all types of vehicles will also now be part of the list.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration wants half of cars on Philippine roads to be electric vehicles by 2040.

In a statement, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the move is expected to boost the EV market in the Philippines, support the transition to emerging technologies, reduce the transport system’s reliance on fossil fuels, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"By encouraging consumers to adopt EVs, we are promoting a cleaner, more resilient, and more environmentally friendly transportation alternative,” he said.

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In their latest meeting, the NEDA Board also approved the Facility for Accelerating Studies for Infrastructure(FAST-Infra) Project. This will fund the development of high quality transportation master plans and create a pipeline of big-ticket transportation projects that would boost both national and regional connectivity.  

They also approved the Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools (ISRS) Project, which will help schools affected by natural disasters between 2019 and 2023 to urgently rebuild their classrooms and other facilities.