CHAPTER 184: NEW VENTURES ON TRANSPORTATION

September 17, 2029

Taguig – TG Tower, 21st Floor – Executive Conference Room

9:48 AM

Timothy entered the conference room the same way he always did—quietly, without knocking, without ceremony. He wasn’t expecting much today. Carlos had sent a brief message the night before:

"Sir, I have something new. Needs your eyes."

No attachments. No teasers. Typical Carlos.

When Timothy stepped inside, Carlos was already there, laptop open, a stack of documents beside him. He looked more energized than usual—like someone who hadn’t slept but didn’t regret it.

"Morning," Carlos said.

"Show me," Timothy replied, taking his seat.

Carlos clicked something on his laptop and rotated it slightly toward Timothy. A render filled the screen—not glossy, not stylized, just a functional blueprint.

It wasn’t a car.

It was much bigger.

"This," Carlos said, "is our electric bus platform."

Timothy leaned forward.

The design wasn’t flashy. Rectangular body, optimized aerodynamics, battery pack mounted underfloor. Wide doors. Wheel hub motors.

"LithiumX again?" Timothy asked.

"Same architecture as the autonomous fleet," Carlos said. "This one is modular. Passenger capacity varies depending on configuration—twenty-eight seats for city routes, forty in high-density setup."

Timothy scanned the sheet Carlos slid toward him next—component layout, thermal management system, maintenance cycle chart.

"Charging?" Timothy asked.

"Same stations," Carlos said. "Fast-charge capability. Regenerative braking maps already drafted."

He then opened a second tab.

"This," he said, "is the truck."

Timothy looked at the new render.

Electric truck chassis. Flatbed. Cargo variant. Refrigerated variant. Logistics variant with swappable battery pack. All under the same LithiumX platform.

"You’re building an entire ecosystem," Timothy said.

Carlos nodded.

"This isn’t just making vehicles," he said. "It’s building urban movement layers. Cars, buses, trucks. A full electric backbone."

Timothy kept reading.

The electric bus had a projected per-kilometer operating cost lower than conventional diesel buses. Maintenance rate was significantly reduced—no oil changes, no engine wear, minimal moving parts.

The truck platform was equally straightforward—heavy-duty electric motors, reinforced frame, compatibility with TG’s planned autonomous integration in the future.

Carlos took a seat again.

"Why push for buses?" Timothy asked.

"It’s the gap in the market," Carlos said. "EV adoption will stall without large-scale transport shifts. Private cars won’t change the landscape. But buses? Trucks? They control the city flow. If we electrify that, we change the entire mobility economy."

Timothy tapped the page with his finger.

"You want these under TG Glide too?"

"Not yet," Carlos said. "These aren’t autonomous. Not in Phase One. This is Phase Zero."

"Explain."

Carlos leaned forward, elbows on the table.

"Before Manila can handle an autonomous fleet, it needs an electric fleet. Use this phase to normalize EV presence. Make the public comfortable with quiet buses, battery systems, charging stations. Build trust in the infrastructure. Once the city adjusts to electric mass transport—then we drop the driverless platform."

"And the truck?" Timothy asked.

"Logistics sector," Carlos said. "If we control city movement and delivery movement, the autonomous rollout becomes smoother. Everything speaks the same language. Same software backbone. Same battery ecosystem. This will be our bet on the public transportation sector."

Timothy nodded.

It made sense. This was how tech scaled—not through sudden leaps, but stable steps.

He lifted one page.

"Cost projection?"

Carlos slid a different sheet.

"For buses," he said, "₱5.8 million per unit manufacturing cost. No imported drivetrains. The LithiumX pack is still local. For trucks, ₱4.2 million per chassis."

"Pilot?"

"Five buses. Three trucks. Limited routes at first: BGC loop for buses, Taguig-Makati-Pasig route for the trucks."

Timothy set down the documents.

"Where is the bottleneck?"

"Drivers," Carlos said. "Training. Safety protocols. We need standardized certification for EV bus operators. We need charging zones mapped to traffic flows. And we need LGU coordination."

Timothy didn’t need to think too long about that.

"I’ll talk to the city governments," he said. "You prepare the units."

Carlos nodded, relieved.

He clicked to another slideshow—not visuals, but raw numbers. Power consumption graphs. Heat rejection data. Battery cell balancing curves. Real engineering work.

"These simulations are based on Manila humidity and road drag," Carlos said. "Aircon load included. We tuned everything for local operating conditions."

Timothy appreciated that. Many EV companies failed because they imported foreign assumptions into Philippine roads and expected results to match.

Carlos wasn’t doing that.

Timothy sat back.

"This is good," he said. "What do you need from me?"

Carlos didn’t answer immediately. He took a breath, then said:

"Approval to expand the Batangas facility. One more line. Dedicated for these platforms."

"How fast?"

"Nine months for partial output. Full-scale in fourteen."

Timothy nodded once.

"Done," he said.

Carlos blinked. "Just like that?"

"You’re building the future," Timothy said plainly. "I’m not slowing you down."

Carlos exhaled, shoulders loosening.

Timothy stood.

Carlos stood with him.

But Timothy didn’t leave yet. He walked to the window and looked down at the city again—traffic still messy, still slow, still wasted potential.

"Carlos," he said, not turning around yet.

"Yes, sir?"

"When we deploy these buses, don’t brand them TG Motors."

Carlos frowned. "Then what?"

Timothy turned around.

"Brand them as a public service. Something Manila can own. Something people can trust."

Carlos nodded slowly.

"I’ll draft concepts," he said.

"Good."

Timothy started toward the door but Carlos called after him.

"Tim."

Timothy paused.

"What?" he asked.

Carlos held up the bus render, tapping the rough outline of the body.

"This won’t be glamorous," he said. "No one will praise us for building it. People only pay attention to cars, phones, yachts. Not buses."

Timothy shrugged.

"Then we’ll build it anyway," he said. "Because the city needs it."

Carlos smiled at that—small, tired, but satisfied.

Timothy opened the door.

"And Carlos," he added.

"Yes?"

"When the first prototype arrives, I want to ride it myself."

Carlos smirked. "I figured you would."

Timothy left the room, the door closing with a soft click behind him.

Carlos gathered the blueprints, his laptop, and his notes. He took one last look at the bus schematic, then packed everything into his bag.