A nationwide pizza chain is replacing a portion of its fleet of gasoline-fueled delivery scooters with battery-powered ones, saying that the power and speed of the new breed will meet its needs, despite public skepticism over the performance of electric-powered transportation.
This is more good news for Taipei’s air quality, which is already much improved since air quality monitoring equipment was put into use by the Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection in 1994.
Over the weekend the department held an exhibition to display electric scooters and low emissions buses, offering the public a chance to use or ride the vehicles. One Taipei resident who tested out one of the electric scooters amid the drizzle said at first he was unaccustomed to not hearing any noise from the engine when accelerating. Other than that, the electric scooter was just about the same as a gasoline-fueled one, he said, adding that there is no need to drive too fast in the city anyway.
The pizza delivery chain used its new fleet of electric scooters to bring pizza to the event for the public to enjoy. Wang Tian-zuo, a manager of the chain, said each of store’s outlets has six to ten delivery scooters, and they have decided to replace their fleet of scooters with battery-powered ones first in Xinzhuang.
Wang explained that they found the battery-powered vehicles offered ample horsepower and speed during test drives. He added that, while gasoline-powered scooters sell for between NT$50,000 (US$1,630) and NT$60,000 each, the government would provide a NT$10,000 subsidy for each electric scooter purchased, making the electric scooters more economical.
Qiu Yi-liu, an official in the Department of Environmental Protection, said air pollution indicators pointed to bad air quality on only nine days in the first eight months of this year, which is an improvement over 22 days in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the ratio of bad air days this year has dropped to 0.74 percent, which is significantly below the 2-3 percent registered in previous years.
Qiu explained that Taipei can be prone to stagnant air as it is located in a basin. However, this year’s weather conditions have been conducive to dispersing the pollutants, he said, adding that efforts to monitor vehicle emissions will be further strengthened in the future.
