PeekUp ties up with MG Malabon

PeekUp, the newest and ride-hailing app in the metropolis launched last April, tied-up with MG Malabon to introduce 120 electric vehicles in its booming lineup of vehicles now plying the roads of Metro Manila and outlying provinces.

Dave Almarinez, founder and CEO of A Force Ventures Inc. which oversees the homegrown PeekUp app, signed a memorandum of understanding MG Malabon president Andy Maribao for the acquisition of the all-new 120 MG4 EVs for use for use in their target upmarket clients such as in hotels and airport. 

MG (SAIC Motor Philippines) president Felix Jiang, actress Ara Mina (wife and bisiness partner of Almarinez), DTI official Winnie Castelo, and invited basketball stars (Alvin Patrimonio, Marlou Aquino, EJ Feihl, John Ferriols, and Johnny Abbarientos) were on hand to witness the signing together with other bank officers and members of the media.

“As of now, PeekUp has more than 3,000 driver-partners plying the city of Manila and other nearby provinces. The first 20 MG4s to be supplied by MG Malabon will be the very first electric vehicles to be deployed in the country using the PeekUp app. We are hoping for the deliveries of the remaining 100 more MG4s by the first 2 quarters of next year so we can expand and answer the need of our partner drivers and operators,” said Almarinez. “We have an agreement with MIAA to place all our MG4s in all its terminals.

He added that the inclusion of MG4s EVs would mean a big savings on the fuel consumption of their partner once they transfer to electric vehicles. “Fuel consumption on ICE cars is P1,600 per day on a 10-hour basis while EVs consumes only P200-P400 per full charge (average of 400 kms range) per day. That’s a huge savings and a big income for those who will be using our MG4s soon,” Almarinez said.

The first 20 MG4s – with colors all blue and all white – will be financed solely by Almarinez and his partners to showcase the viability of having electric vehicles as ride-hailing app carriers. “The next 100 will be fielded out to our partners as we intend to launch nationwide and even in the Middle East.”

For Andy Maribao, he said that they are very hopeful to fulfill the 120 MG4s as early as the first two quarters of next year. “We are very excited on this project and MG Malabon is very capable of servicing that fleet of EVs they need.”

The MG4s retails of P1.3-million in the market and MG president Felix Jiang said that SAIC gives them the same warranty of 8 years for the battery and 5 years for the body. “This is a big game-changer not only in the booming app-hailing industry but also to the way the local motorists would see the mass transportations transitions into electric. This is also a good opportunity for MG to showcase our EVs through the MG4 that is truly exciting to drive.”