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THE ELECTRIC-POWERED PASsenger jeeps are now available for commercial use. The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has finally agreed to issue plate numbers to the e-jeepneys which can now be sold to interested public transport cooperatives and jeepney operators, Yvonne Palomar-Castro, the project director of Green Renewable Independent Power Producer Inc. (GRIPP), said yesterday. She added that the development and production of the vehicles were primarily funded by GRIPP and the Dutch group Stichting Doen as part of their “Climate-Friendly Cities” project. The LTO decided to allow the e-jeeps to operate commercially after GRIPP and Stiching Doen were able to assemble the vehicles locally with the help of Philippine Utility Vehicles Inc. (PhUV), a local group of car parts manufacturers. “With the issuance of the LTO license plates, we assure the road worthiness and safety of e-jeeps for commercial use,” Castro said at a press briefing on the project in Taguig City. “All of us would surely benefit from this project as it would answer our need for mass transport which uses a clean and renewable source of energy,” she added. Powered by an electric motor with 12 six-volt lead acid batteries, an e-jeep can carry 14 passengers and run 40 to 60 kilometers per hour. Priced at P625,000, the electric-powered jeepneys are cheaper than diesel-fed ones which now cost at least P700,000, according to Ferdinand Raquelsantos, PhUV president. Quote this article on your site