Two EV Pilot Runs Kick Off in Taiwan

As part of the government's effort to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) held a ceremony in Taipei recently to launch two EV pilot projects. The MOEA plans to carry out 10 EV projects in different locations throughout Taiwan over the next few years, putting at least 3,000 of the vehicles on the streets.

Among the VIPs attending the ceremony were Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang, officials from the MOEA's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), ranking officials from Taichung and Tainan cities, Chairman Chen Kuo-rong of the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers' Association (TTVMA) (and president of the Yulon Group), President Joe Huang of the Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC), and President Hsu Ji-mu of the Carplus Auto Leasing Corp.

Early Bird
In his address during the ceremony, Minister Shih noted that “Taiwan is ready for letting electric vehicles run on the road, and today is an important time to witness a key milestone in the local electric vehicle industry. These zero-emissions vehicles are expected to reduce the emission of CO2 that might lead to global warming.”

“Promoting such environment-friendly vehicles is a very complicated task that requires sophisticated integration between vehicle design, the charging infrastructure, and battery standardization, so the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) has promulgated an action plan and commissioned the IDB to set up an EV promotion office to handle implementation.”

Though the cost of EVs is still too high for the general public, Shih continued, the government hopes that they will become more affordable as mass production and battery standardization are achieved. “Taiwan has been devoting increasing efforts to the promotion of EVs,” he pointed out, “and the government has kicked off a ‘low-carbon island' plan to encourage the adoption of EVs on offshore islands such as Penghu, Kinmen, Liuqiu, and Green Island. In addition, Taiwan is cooperating closely with other countries, such as the U.S., Japan, China, and Israel, in EV-related areas. As an early bird, Taiwan will definitely have a chance to play a role in the global EV industry.”

EVs have become a favored tool for carbon reduction all over the world, Shih commented, citing the new-energy policy of the Obama Administration, EV subsidies provided by the Japanese government, various subsidy programs in Europe, and China's 12th five-year economic development plan as examples. “Our promotion of EVs will bring our world-class ICT industry into this environment-friendly transportation equipment segment, making it more globally competitive,” he said. “At the same time, the increasing popularity of EVs in Taiwan will reduce the island's dependence on imported energy.”

Fast Track
“It took less than three years to get EVs on the road in Taiwan, thanks to the joint efforts of the government and the private sector,” said TTVMA Chairman Chen. “On behalf of all the companies in the local EV industry, I want to thank the government. It really has not been an easy task.”

Over the past few years, Chen added, Taiwan has built up its own EV supply chain consisting of makers of assembled EVs (including the Yulon Group and Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing Co.), EV motors, charging equipment, and other key parts and components. Government policy has guided the industry's development.

Chen pointed out that Taiwan's EV pilot projects have some features that differ from similar projects in other countries. First, he said, is the fact that in Taiwan the government wants to pour more resources into “intelligent” EVs so as to make use of the island's strong information and communications technology (ICT) industry to create new driving experiences and new relationships between humans, EVs, roads, and the environment. Second, Taiwan's EV pilot runs are promoting all types of EVs, including full-electric multi-purpose vans (MPVs,), sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and passenger cars, as well as public buses, instead of concentrating on large public buses and small cars as in many other countries.

A third major difference, according to Chen, is that Taiwan's EV industry has been developing around the 80-ampere charging standard, which is about 2.5 times faster than the international-standard 32 amperes. This faster charging standard—assuming that it is successfully developed—could greatly reduce EV charging time and give Taiwan a leading role in the setting of EV-charging standards. All these factors are expected to propel Taiwan to the forefront of the global EV industry.

The chairman urged the central and local governments to devote more resources to the construction of an EV charging infrastructure, since the popularization of EVs requires market-driven demand that can come only from consumers.

Low-carbon Island
To reach the goal of developing Taiwan into a low-carbon island, the government has listed intelligent EVs as one of its four “intelligent industries” slated for priority development. Under EV-development strategies and action plans announced in late 2010, the IDB's intelligent EV pilot-run master plan resulted in the formation of the two EV pilot projects that are soon to kick off: the low-carbon travel plan in Taipei City, carried out by the Carplus auto-leasing company, and the “Dream Biological Green Transportation Plan” carried out by the Taichung City Government. Other cities, including Tainan and Kaohsiung, have also announced EV demonstration plans.

EV Transport in Taipei
Carplus, which is a member of the Yulon Group, operates a large fleet of gasoline-engine lease cars. It decided to become involved in EVs to expand its business scope and help the Yulon Group promote its EVs.

Carplus reported that it would soon set up EV leasing stations at the Banquiao railway, high-speed rail, and MRT stations, offering battery EVs for use in Taipei on an hourly or daily basis. Drivers will be able to rent the Luxgen MPV EV+ seven-seat van or the tobe M'Car EV, and Carplus will provide rapid-charging services at certain scenic spots. Carplus is also cooperating with Taipei department stores to provide shopping incentives and attract more people to rent EVs. Both the Luxgen and tobe are manufactured by the Yulon Group.

Central Taiwan
The Taichung City Government is the first regional government in Taiwan to inaugurate an EV pilot-run program, aiming to promote low-carbon transportation, reduce vehicle emissions, and improve the air quality in central Taiwan.

The Taichung project involves the use of 100 battery electric vehicles (half Luxgen MPV EV+ models and half Nissan Leaf EVs), mainly for administrative purposes. Taichung already has 64 of the vehicles in use for administrative transportation, environmental-protection patrols, policy patrols, and other purposes. The city plans to set up 161 charging stations over the next few years, including 64 at the parking lots of government agencies using the vehicles and 97 at EV-only public parking spaces. Parking and charging will be totally free.

The city government said that it will continue to subsidize EV purchases, aiming to have 50,000 EVs and 2,000 charging stations in operation by 2020.

EV Policy Incentives
Various government agencies are offering incentives to promote the intelligent-EV industry in Taiwan. The Ministry of Finance, for example, has instituted a three-year commodity-tax holiday for purchasers of battery electric vehicles, whether domestically made or imported; the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has worked out special license plates and safety regulations for EVs; the Environmental Protection Administration has mapped out new CO2 emission standards; and the Bureau of Energy under the Economics Ministry has announced more stringent fuel-efficiency rules for internal combustion engine vehicles and is encouraging regional and local governments to provide incentives (free parking, free charging) for EVs.

Seven assembled-EV makers in Taiwan—the Luxgen Motor Co., China Motor Corp., Yulon Tobe Motor Co., Yulon Nissan Motor Co. (all members of the Yulon Group), Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing Co. and its subsidiary Pihsiang Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co., EXA Energy, and All Win Green Power Technology Corp.—have introduced nine battery electric vehicle models so far; all of the models have passed MOTC safety tests, and some are already on the road.

According to President Joe Hung of the ARTC, Taiwan's assembled-EV and key parts development capability is well recognized by international EV makers, confirming the island's leading role in this new industry. To provide a more friendly user environment, he went on, the government is thinking about how to build an intelligent power grid throughout the island, help private companies set up charging stations, help map out business models, and encourage consumers to purchase EVs.

The recently inaugurated pilot runs, Huang said, are aimed at boosting the penetration of EVs into such applications as public transportation, vehicle inspection, policy patrol, express delivery and logistics, commercial vehicle fleets, and auto leasing.