From flying taxis to e-jeepneys: transport in Southeast Asia is going electric

In gridlocked, smoggy Southeast Asian cities, change is afoot to electrify transport and clear some of the world’s most polluted skies. This video documents the pockets of hope for e-mobility around the most climate-vulnerable region.

Southeast Asian cities are among the most congested and polluted in the world.

Hanoi and Jakarta have overtaken Beijing in a global ranking of the world’s most polluted cities, as the Southeast Asia’s fast-growing metropolises get richer and bigger.

The problem is set to get worse in the world’s most climate-vulnerable region, as the expanding middles classes choose cars as their transport of choice.

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest growing car markets. In the Philippines, car sales have tripled in the last 5 years, making traffic, air pollution and climate-changing emissions more severe.

But in pockets of innovation around the region, transport is going green.

From e-bikes in Vietnam and e-buses in Indonesia to flying solar-powered taxis in Singapore and e-jeepneys in the Philippines, the fast-growing regional bloc is waking up to the economic and environmental potential of electric transport. 

This video highlights the region’s transport electrification story, and is part of Eco-Business’s series on Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition.

Production by Philip Amiote

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