The government is to build 3,310 new charging stations for electric scooters across the nation in the next five years to encourage the use of electric vehicles and reduce air pollution, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Wednesday.
“Including the existing 1,800 charging stations, the nation will have more than 5,000 charging stations for electric motorcycles by 2022,” an Industrial Development Bureau official said by telephone.
The ministry is to allocate a five-year budget of up to NT$2 billion (US$67.6 million) to the state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) to build 1,000 of the 3,310 charging stations at its gas stations, the official said, adding that individuals and businesses would be able to apply for a subsidy of up to NT$300,000 to build a scooter charging station on their own.
The ministry’s charging station project came after the Executive Yuan on Dec. 21 last year announced a ban on the sale of fossil fuel-powered motorcycles and cars in 2035 and 2040 respectively.
The government’s strategy to fight pollution includes replacing buses and government-owned cars with electric models by 2030.
The official said the ministry has already helped set up a combined 800 charging stations for electric buses and cars.
The electric vehicle charging station project does not include electric cars, as “the state-run CPC can only do so many things at once,” he said, adding that “it would not be economical for CPC to build charging stations for electric cars, because there are not many in Taiwan.”
As of Nov. 30 last year, there were 1,471 registered electric cars in Taiwan, but more than 107,000 electric scooters, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).
The official said the MOTC aims to set up parking spaces with discounts exclusively for electric cars and scooters to encourage the public to purchase electric vehicles.
The Ministry of the Interior is to revise the Building Act (建築法) so that new parking lots have space for installing chargers for electric cars and scooters, he said.
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