The Taiwanese government will continue with its plan to subsidize the purchase of electric motorcycles in Taiwan in 2020, said the nation’s Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai during her visit to Gogoro’s plant on July 15th.
According to Chen, the government will also begin to actively push for the local productions and development of electric motorcycle batteries in Taiwan.
In addition to the subsidies that are already being provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs under the guidelines of their “Technology Development Program” and “A+ Industrial Innovation R&D Program,” there will also be subsidies for the projects of battery module design, energy storage technology, and smart battery management on a case-by-case basis.
The implementation of these subsidies will help to speed up the mass productions of Taiwan’s indigenous batteries and the establishment of a battery certification system, which will in turn foster the overall formation of the local electric-motorcycle industrial chain in Taiwan, said Chen. In the future, the Taiwanese government will continue to encourage the nation’s existing motorcycle shops to extend their businesses and maintenance/repair services to electric models.
Horace Luke, the CEO of Gogoro, noted that as of the end of June, the company has already sold up to 180,000 electric motorcycles and established 1,238 battery-exchange stations throughout Taiwan. These stations are all within the reach of five-minute riding in the nation’s six major cities. The company’s electric motorcycles are entirely indigenous ones, as they are all manufactured at its plant in the Guishan District of Taoyuan City; all of the components and parts are being supplied by local suppliers. Luke suggested to Chen that with its local heavy-duty electric motorcycle technology leading the world by three to five years, the government should support local electric-motorcycle manufacturers to tap the global market.
