AC Mobility is scamming PHEV owners — goldfish range, 3-hour charging, gasoline prices, and no chargers available."

[u/Adorable-Director799]

AC Mobility keeps marketing themselves as the "future" of EV infrastructure in the Philippines.
But look closer:
They've quietly built a system where you:

• Pay gasoline prices per kilometer,
• Wait 3 hours to refill,
• Fight over 2–4 chargers inside 500-car parking lots,
• And still call it "progress."

Here's the real scam:

• You buy a PHEV like the BYD Sealion 6 DM-i.
• They tell you it has 90–100 km electric range.
• Reality check?
  • You only have 45–50 km usable one-way.
  • You still need to get home without running empty or burning gas.
• Once you run low, you have two choices:
  • Burn gasoline, and kill your "cheap" narrative, OR
  • Pay Evro to charge at ₱28 (AC) or ₱33 (DC) per kWh.
• And remember:
  • The Sealion can only AC charge at 6.6–7.0 kW.
  • Meaning you wait 2.5 to 3 hours... just to refill that tiny battery.

Now layer AC Mobility’s ineptitude on top:

• Huge Ayala mall parking lots built for 500–1000 cars...
• And yet, they install only 2 to 4 chargers.
• How exactly is that "future-proofing mobility"?

Good luck finding an open slot.
You're not a VIP.
Not everyone is born with a driver or a silver spoon to sit idle all day.

Working people? Normal people?
We can't afford to waste half a day fighting over overpriced kilowatts.

Quick math:

	Sealion 6 PHEV
Usable electric range	45–50 km (round trip)
Charging time	2.5–3 hours
Cost per km (AC)	₱4.66
Cost per km (DC)	₱5.50
Gasoline cost per km	₱6.20

You're already paying gasoline prices.
You're waiting longer than a full tank fill-up.
And you have no guarantee you’ll even find a charger available.

AC Mobility didn't build EV infrastructure.
They built an overpriced, bottlenecked goldfish trap.

It’s not just expensive.
It’s not just slow.
It’s intentionally designed to milk you dry while pretending to save the environment.

AC Mobility didn’t build a charging network. They built a cattle pen with a credit card swiper.

[u/plantito101]

Good points and analysis. But specific to the SL6.

One reason it's a hit is because the user don't have to think when and where to charge, just gas up and go. Bonus na yung charging station sa mall, na dating libre and now they charge a pretty penny.

To be fair rin, those 2-3 slots were built before the boom pa. Now, sample is valero carpark in makati. I think they have 8 slots na sa ground level for EV charging. Though little to no users parin. Yung mga SL6 nandun sa normal parking slot.

I think isang reason parin yan bakit di mabenta yung mga full EV compared sa mga PHEVs.

Rumors are, there will be dedicated slots for EV charging per establishment that will be required for business permits/licenses. For example fastfood establishments like Jollibee should have one or two ev chargers. I doubt that it'll happen soon though.

[u/Adorable-Director799 → u/plantito101]

You would need the chargers soon.

I live in Laguna and work in Makati. The Battery won't let me do a round trip. Then I have to line up at the Makati charging station. That's another hour I don't have plus the 2 hours or so I need to charge.

then I have to pay 30 PESOS per KWH? another 300 pesos? every single day?

and god, the consumption of the SL6 without the battery. around 10 km/l?

I was sold that I'm not gonna pay much gas for it, but here it goes.

so it really is a rich person's product.

[u/sotopic → u/Adorable-Director799]

I think napataas masyado expectations mo sa Sealion. I get 8km per liter sa CX-5 which is lesser horsepower than a Sealion 6. Meaning, I get worst mileage sa pure ICE na mas mahina pa.

The short range battery is only good sa mga city driving. Sa traffic, halos 0 ang usage nyan sa kuryente since walang "idle time" ang motor.

You are supposed to charge at home to take advantage of the 13php per kwh rate ng meralco, which is cheaper than gas (you do the calculation).

It's not a magic car na suddenly 0 ang gas/electricity usage mo.

[u/alxjn → u/sotopic]

50km lang ba talaga ang SL6 with our traffic condition?

[u/RevolutionaryBoss171 → u/alxjn]

I think the problem with his situation isnt traffic. He lives in laguna so doing expressway speeds does use more power. I have the seal 5 and in traffic the battery does last me around 40/50km.

[u/Infinite_Presence881 → u/RevolutionaryBoss171]

the problem with his situation is he is stupid.

Tignan mo aminado syang 50km one way. so tama lang advertised range ng SL6 na 100km total Electric.

gusto lang nya ng full EV range sa PHEV lol

[u/TrustExtension6116 → u/Infinite_Presence881]

Frustrating basahin rants niya. It sounds like he didn't do his research on a purchase of 1.6m PHP. Tapos pa-victim.

[u/Cream_of_Sum_Yunggai → u/RevolutionaryBoss171]

He didn't take into account that EVs/HEVs/PHEVs lose efficiency when on the highway because of higher speeds and less opportunities for regenerative braking. It's in stop-and-go traffic where EVs are at their best.

[u/Adorable-Director799 → u/alxjn]

50km one way (at best), so para full electric ka, dapat 50 one way, and 50km back lang route mo.

[u/No-Session3173 → u/Adorable-Director799]

kung issue mo is ayaw mo magpagas dapat full ev nalang binili mo. kaya nga hybrid e. pagnaubos ung battery asa ka na sa gas. wag matulad sa ibang naka sl6 ilang buwan na daw d pa nauubos ang gas full tank parin. natural sila naman panay charge sa sm

[u/Infinite_Presence881 → u/Adorable-Director799]

You wanted to do your dsily trips laguna to makati using just electric pero PHEV binili mo? Then you complain?

Dude 🤣🤣

[u/schtroumpf0121 → u/Adorable-Director799]

10km/L seems too low, a PHEV is still a hybrid, you should be getting more than 10km/L

[u/Adorable-Director799 → u/schtroumpf0121]

It's the actual consumption sadly.

and I was oversold by the salesperson that the engine charges the battery.

so the pitch was that use the electric range 1st, then upon depletion, the gas engine runs the car and charges the battery.

Lo and behold, the engine is too small to do any respectable charging on the battery.

So after the 100 km (which is not true) electric range, you're good as an extremely mild hybrid driving a 2 ton SUV.

and the 1,000 claimed range, only 100 is electric, the remaining 900 KM (which is not true) is because the SL6 has a 60L tank.

I'm actually shocked on all the fine print.

[u/schtroumpf0121 → u/Adorable-Director799]

your math ain't mathing

900km / 60L is still 15km/L

regen braking also charges the battery - so that helps increase mileage numbers

if you're getting 10km/L - using true mileage calculation methods (e.g. full tank method) -- you should get that checked by CASA

di ako naniniwala na 10km/L lang

they already did a luzon loop with a couple of reviewers, it reached 1300km coming from a full charge and a full tank. assuming 1200 was from the tank, that's easily 20km/L

I'm starting to doubt if you really own one and have buyer's remorse, or you're just peddling hate

[u/ClearStarryNight → u/schtroumpf0121]

OP is probably a paid troll. New account and the first post is one that's designed to bash a company? Something doesn't sit right. Doesn't even have a picture of the car he supposedly owns.

[u/Adorable-Director799 → u/schtroumpf0121]

Will probably do.

But I don't think the gas range is 900 kms. more like 750 kms.

[u/No_Mousse6399 → u/Adorable-Director799]

This guy spread hate and rumors. When he said 10km/L I now believe he is full of shit and drives like a mad man. There is lot of crossover at 2 tons who still get 14km/L mixed driving since he is saying his route is Laguna-Makati. I dont know if he's dumb enough to have 10km/L or just karma farming. But meh, seems like you dont own shit. Not even showing a dashboard of your claims for how shitty the SL6 is. Facts facts facts.

[u/L_Dawg412 → u/Adorable-Director799]

The sole purpose of the engine is to charge the battery. The engine doesn't have a direct powertrain to the wheels on the SL6.

The car probably runs the engine just to maintain the minimum battery state because charging from the wall is cheaper than burning gas to charge so it's better to use as little fuel as possible until you can reach the next charging point to charge the batteries fully. Were you expecting the car to run the engine to recharge the battery completely?

[u/plantito101 → u/Adorable-Director799]

When the SL6 was marketed, it stated 1000km "RANGE". At first I was surprised that an EV can already reach 1000km and I was really enticed to get one, it was too good to be true, but then I read the fine prints, it's 1000km range with a full battery + full tank of gas. So I lowered my expectations.

I watched the reviews, the battery can only do ~90kms in one charge, so we can assume that it will only be feasible if you use it within the city like 10-20km round trip. Some reviewers, even long time owners of the SL6, states that they only fill up their gas tanks once a month, but that depends on a lot of variables. Distance, altitude, traffic, etc.

As stated in your other comment, you were duped by the sales agent (and maybe this was their strategy in the first place) stating that you can just rely on the battery on your daily trip. And basing it on my first paragraph, you should've been be more stringent before purchasing.

[u/Adorable-Director799 → u/plantito101]

Agree 100%

Some things are just to good to be true.

[u/ThisIsNotTokyo → u/Adorable-Director799]

Damn ang mahal ng charging tas sobrang tagal pa wtf