Philippines’ C-Trike Electrical Tricycle Proves That Not All Conversions are Dangerous

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Conversion, the sort that doesn’t contain swapping religions or political affiliations, is a follow well-known within the Philippines.

Probably the most well-known, to this point, is changing automobiles from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. This type of conversion, seemed upon with disdain and typically fright by engineers, has given the Filipinos Japan’s discarded kei vehicles and heavy vans to function and keep, and on the unhappy, undesirable event, perish in.

Thus, the Cagayan State College (CSU) C-Trike (Transformed Electrical Tricycle) displayed at this weekend’s 2025 Nationwide Science and Know-how Week (NSTW) within the very northern metropolis of Laoag, Ilocos Norte, impressed as a result of it despatched one essential message: conversion isn’t unhealthy, it rids the ever present Philippine tricycle of the unique smoke-spewing, two-stroke engine and transforms it into a completely electrical, zero-emission automobile.

The C-Trike, developed via CSU’s ElectroMobility Analysis and Growth Middle (EMRDC), represents years of analysis and collaboration between the Division of Science and Know-how’s (DOST) Philippine Council for Trade, Power and Rising Know-how Analysis and Growth (PCIEERD), DOST Area 2, and the College of the Philippines Diliman.

With P79.4 million (roughly $1.4 million) in complete venture funding, the C-Trike types a part of DOST’s Good and Sustainable Communities Program (SSCP), a nationwide initiative advancing eco-friendly mobility options.

From idea to almost-commercialization

The C-Trike isn’t new. The idea goes method again to 2021 via DOST-funded research analyzing e-trike viability.

Preliminary analysis evaluating ten market-ready e-trikes in opposition to conventional 2-stroke and 4-stroke tricycles demonstrated that electrical automobiles may journey as much as 80,000 kilometers, accommodate most street hundreds, and make the most of considerably much less vitality than their gasoline-powered counterparts.

These findings turned the springboard for establishing the ElectroMobility Analysis and Growth Middle at CSU, led by program chief Engineer Arthur Ibanez, with Engineers Audy Quebral and Michael Orpilla serving as CSU venture leaders for the e-trike and C-trike tasks respectively.

In the course of the 2023 Nationwide Science and Know-how Week celebration in Iloilo Metropolis, CSU exhibited each its revolutionary e-trike and the newly developed C-trike. The automobiles have been created beneath CSU’s first NICER (Area of interest Facilities within the Areas for Analysis and Growth) program titled “Electromobility Analysis and Growth Middle.”

DOST Area 2, CSU, and the Central Isabela Agri Manufacturing Corp. (CIAMC) signed a Know-how Licensing Settlement establishing phrases and situations for e-trike commercialization. DOST Area 2 Director Virginia Bilgera characterised the settlement as a response to mounting environmental considerations and escalating residing prices.

The settlement lined the e-trike’s venture design, improvement, fabrication of various components, and meeting procedures.

The e-trike expertise took heart stage on the 2024 Regional Science, Know-how, and Innovation Week (RSTW) in Cagayan Valley on September 25, 2024, at SM Metropolis Tuguegarao. Throughout a press convention at CSU’s Carig Campus, DOST Secretary Renato Solidum, together with CSU representatives, accomplice companies, researchers, and trade consultants, signed Know-how Licensing Agreements and Memoranda of Settlement (MOA) on e-trike expertise. Secretary Solidum emphasised that science and expertise function pathways to progress and options to real-world issues, not merely instruments for discovery.

The occasion additionally marked the formal inauguration of the Electromobility Analysis and Growth Middle (EMRDC), with the e-mobility venture divided into three phases. The primary two phases centered on improvement and manufacturing, efficiently changing two conventional tricycles into e-trikes after finishing viability research.

Made in Mindanao

The C-Trike featured prominently on the HANDA Pilipinas Mindanao Leg and RSTW 2025, hosted by DOST Area IX on September 23–25, 2025. DOST Secretary Solidum and Undersecretary for Regional Operations Engr. Sancho A. Mabborang emphasised that preparedness represents a lifeline slightly than a luxurious, highlighting how science-driven improvements just like the C-Trike strengthen group resilience. The occasion additionally noticed the inauguration of DOST Area IX’s first Superior Manufacturing Middle (AMCEN) at Western Mindanao State College.

All through 2025, CSU and DOST carried out exhibitions showcasing e-trikes in a number of provinces, together with Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Apayao, Quirino, Kalinga, and Iloilo, with growth plans to Mindanao encompassing Basic Santos Metropolis, Bukidnon, Zamboanga, and Basilan. By March 2025, CSU had secured 4 expertise adopters—two from Isabela, one from Cebu, and one from Pasay Metropolis.

The C-Trike’s look on the 2025 Nationwide Science and Know-how Week in Laoag Metropolis represented a fruits of years of improvement. The week-long occasion featured actions, boards, and interactive displays anchored on the sub-theme “Constructing Good and Sustainable Communities,” showcasing R&D-based and scientific companies providing long-term options to communities’ urgent challenges.

Earlier in 2025, CSU’s EMRDC acquired the Excellence in Undertaking Implementation and Completion (EPIC) Award from DOST-PCIEERD in recognition of its well timed, environment friendly, and goal-oriented execution of its e-trike tasks.

Technical specs and efficiency

The C-Trike gives spectacular efficiency metrics that place it as a viable various to gasoline-powered tricycles. The automobile can journey as much as 80 kilometers on a single cost, making it ideally suited for each day city routes. In collaboration with UP Diliman, CSU developed a fast-charging battery able to absolutely charging in simply 35 minutes—a big enchancment over conventional electrical automobile charging occasions of 8 to 12 hours.

The analysis crew can be creating a battery-swapping system that might enable drivers to exchange batteries as rapidly as refueling a gasoline-powered automobile. This innovation addresses one of many key limitations to mild electrical automobile (LEV) adoption within the Philippines, as batteries at the moment account for 40–60 p.c of the whole automobile price. The battery standardization venture, led by Engineer Mark Anthony S. Ibañez, has acquired P8 million in funding from DOST-PCIEERD.

The financial benefits of the C-Trike are substantial. Analysis reveals the automobile prices solely P0.88 (roughly $0.015) per kilometer to function, in comparison with P3.20 for 2-stroke engines and P2.30 for 4-stroke tricycles. This dramatic discount in working prices interprets to considerably elevated take-home revenue for tricycle drivers, making the expertise each environmentally accountable and economically engaging.

For context, Tuguegarao Metropolis alone has over 7,000 franchised tricycles, plus 1000’s extra unregistered automobiles. Most run on 2-stroke or 4-stroke engines that contribute considerably to air air pollution. The C-Trike’s conversion course of replaces the standard mechanical engine with an electrical energy system, eliminating dangerous emissions whereas providing substantial financial savings.

If widespread adoption happens, the transportation sector may obtain the worldwide aim of chopping carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. The e-trike’s capability to emit much less carbon dioxide can be useful in decreasing pollution-related diseases and bettering air high quality in city facilities.

The uphill journey to commercialization

To speed up commercialization and group deployment, CSU has signed Know-how Licensing Agreements with ACT Machineries and Metallic Craft Company and Suki Buying and selling Company, opening alternatives for mass manufacturing and rollout to localities searching for sustainable transport options.

Preliminary dialogues with the Federation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Affiliation (FETODA) have begun, with stakeholders anticipating the enactment of native ordinances to manage using transformed electrical tricycles. Based on CSU Campus Analysis Coordinator Michael Orpilla, discussions in Tuguegarao Metropolis are awaiting native laws that may govern transformed electrical tricycle operations.

Arnold Kein T. Tolbe of CSU’s Electromobility R&D Middle studies that public reception has been overwhelmingly constructive, significantly in areas the place the expertise has been showcased. The venture is at the moment centered on bettering charging effectivity via ongoing analysis into battery swapping and establishing charging and battery-swapping stations to cut back battery measurement and decrease general e-trike prices.

The C-Trike initiative underscores CSU’s dedication to future-ready improvements and elevates the college as a number one catalyst in advancing science-driven, environmentally accountable options. As Michael Orpilla famous, CSU isn’t merely educating change however actively shaping it.

The venture demonstrates how regional establishments can collaborate with authorities companies and personal trade to develop domestically related options to world challenges. With its first DOST-funded Electromobility Analysis and Growth Middle for e-trike expertise, CSU has established a mannequin that different Philippine universities and analysis establishments can emulate.

*This story was developed from studies and protection by Ysabelle Bianca Fernandez.