The Executive Yuan approved a seven-year strategic development and action plan April 15 to invest at least NT$9.7 billion (US$309.16 million) in electric vehicles before 2016.
Sources said the plan, designed to promote the EV sector in Taiwan, calls on the government to develop an environment favorable to EVs, offer incentives to encourage private purchases, build a driver-friendly environment, and facilitate the industrial development of EVs.
In addition, the government will designate 10 EV test zones on the island before 2013, with the first one to be set up in an ecological park in Pinglin Township of Taipei County, where 300 electric vehicles will offer shuttle services by the fourth quarter of 2010 at the soonest.
According to Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Huang Jung-chiou, the central government will ask local governments and businesses to participate in the scheme. The government has earmarked NT$2.28 billion to subsidize the establishment of test zones, roughly 30 percent of the total funds required for setting up such facilities.
With efforts from both the public and the private sectors, the government hopes to create a flagship electric car manufacturer in Taiwan by 2016, with annual sales volume of 60,000 cars valued at NT$120 billion, to make the manufacturer one of the world’s top 10 electric car producers.
The sector is expected to experience fast expansion from 2017 on. With an effective global marketing strategy, and by leveraging the complementary advantages of businesses from Taiwan and mainland China, the government expects sales volumes of domestically produced EVs in Taiwan and export markets to reach 200,000 cars and 1 million cars, respectively, by 2030, to make the country one of the top five exporters of electric cars in the world.
The state will waive commodity taxes on electric cars from 2010 to 2013, and offer subsidies from 2014 to encourage purchases of such vehicles. The amount of subsidies will be determined depending on the nation’s financial health at that time.
In related news, Woody T.J. Duh, director-general of the MOEA’s Industrial Development Bureau, said government agencies and state-run businesses will purchase 185 electric cars in the following three years to serve top government officials. (SFC-HZW)