Oil shock is turning Filipinos electric: EV sales jump 300%, even as overall car market shrinks

Manila: The Philippine auto market is slowing, but one part of the industry is accelerating sharply: electric vehicles (EVs).

Overall vehicle sales fell 10.2% year-on-year to 241,725 units in January-July 2026, according to data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).

But sales of electrified vehicles — hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles — jumped 136.4% to 38,286 units. 

Their share of CAMPI-TMA sales more than doubled to 15.84%, from 6.02% a year earlier.

Pure-EV sales quadrupled.

Engr. Willy Q. Tee Ten, president of the AutoHub Group of Companies, the Philippine Automotive Dealers Association and the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP), said the shift initially favoured hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

But the sharp rise in fuel prices changed consumer behaviour.

The shift is happening as the Middle East war and oil-price shock force Filipino motorists to rethink the economics of gasoline and diesel.

Sources: CAMPI and TMA

“Only this year when Donald Trump bombed Iran, when oil prices went through the roof, that's the time when our customers finally considered trying EVs or full-electric vehicles,” Ten said in an interview with Bilyonaryo news channel.

The numbers back up the broader trend.

From January through July, battery-EV sales jumped 300.3% to 10,476 units, while plug-in hybrids surged 2,363.2% to 7,094 units. 

Conventional hybrids remained the largest xEV category, with 20,716 units sold, up 55.9%.

July was even more striking.

Electrified vehicles accounted for 29.5% of CAMPI-TMA sales that month, up 18 percentage points from a year earlier.

Tee Ten said the economics are increasingly difficult for consumers to ignore.

For a motorist spending around ₱3,000 a week on gasoline, he estimated that switching to a full EV could cut the fuel-related expense by roughly 70%, or about ₱2,100 a week.

“That’s already ₱6,000 a month,” he said of the potential savings for a plug-in hybrid, depending on usage.

His broader point: fuel prices have turned EV economics from an environmental argument into a household-budget argument.

To further boost adoption, the EVAP has called for the expansion of charging infrastructure beyond major urban centres.

EVAP raised the issue during a meeting with Philippine Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian on strengthening government and industry support for electric mobility.

The group said charging stations and other support facilities must be deployed in the provinces and along major transport routes to broaden EV adoption.

Currently, limited charging access outside urban areas remains a barrier for motorists making provincial or long-distance trips.

EVAP said sustained infrastructure investment would determine whether government policies translate into practical transportation options for Filipinos, particularly those living outside Metro Manila and other highly urbanized areas.

The discussions also covered possible updates to Republic Act No. 11697, or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA), to reflect the growth of EV demand and address the changing requirements of motorists and industry participants.

The Philippine auto market isn't simply shrinking. It is changing composition. Consumers who are still buying cars are increasingly considering vehicles that consume less gasoline — or none at all.

One problem confronting Philippine consumers is terminology. Tee Ten, a chemical engineer, noted that the market now includes mild hybrids, conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles and battery-electric vehicles.

The result is a market in which the transition to electric mobility does not necessarily mean motorists are immediately abandoning gasoline.

For many Filipinos, the first step may simply be using less of it.

The rapid increase in sales is putting pressure on the country's charging network.

As of March 31, the Department of Energy (DoE) said the Philippines had 472 recognised EV models, 258 accredited charging-station providers and 1,569 charging points nationwide. 

The DOE is also developing policies for mandatory charging installations in key establishments. Tee Ten argues consumers shouldn't wait for charging infrastructure to become perfect before buying an EV.

“The charging station should not wait for the buyers; the buyers should not wait for the charging stations,” he said.

His argument: most EV owners should charge primarily at home, using public chargers mainly when they need them during longer journeys.

Tee Ten said the biggest concentration remains in Metro Manila and other major urban centres, because charging operators need sufficient vehicle traffic to make investments viable.

But the eventual goal is a national network. “We start with the big cities and then slowly trickle down to the smaller cities,” he said.