Taiwan is making good progress in developing electric vehicles, with France and the Philippines planning to purchase electric cars and motorcycles from the island, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs Sept. 22.
La Poste, the mail service operator of France, has ordered more than 10,000 EV motorcycles amounting to NT$1 billion (US$33 million) in sales, said MOEA Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Woody T. J. Duh.
French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen is in Taiwan to meet with local EV parts manufacturers for cooperation programs on battery pack security, Duh added.
The Philippines, too, is interested in introducing EV motors and power systems to its capital, in an attempt to revamp the colorful jeepneys of Manila, Duh said, adding that a letter of cooperation intent has been inked between the Philippines and Taiwan’s EV-Advanced Propulsion Driving System Alliance.
These developments show that a strategic project approved by the Cabinet in April 2010 to encourage the research, development and promotion of EV vehicles is beginning to bear fruit, the MOEA said.
The goal of the project is to put more than 60,000 electric cars on the roads in Taiwan by 2016, and for the nation’s EV industry to generate more than NT$120 billion in output by then.
“Although problems of safety, endurance, speed and price remain, the government will continue to prioritize the development of the EV industry as part of its effort to promote green energy,” Premier Wu Den-yih said, adding that he has ordered relevant agencies such as the National Science Council to strengthen energy storage technology.
In related news, MOEA Deputy Minister Huang Jung-chiou returned from a Japan-bound mission earlier this month. Huang visited several EV enterprises including Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and others involved in the development of lithium batteries, charging stations and intelligent satellite-navigation systems.
The potential market value of cooperation between Japan and Taiwan in the EV sector amounts to NT$3.4 billion, with more than 45 Taiwanese companies in the EV supply chain expected to profit, the MOEA said.
