A substantial reduction in government subsidies for purchases of new electric scooters next year has triggered serious concern over the uptake of the environmentally friendly vehicles, the Smart Mobility Association Taiwan (台灣智慧移動產業協會) said on Thursday.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) plans to scrap its NT$3,000 (US$98.32) subsidy for purchasers of electric scooters next year, a draft amendment to its subsidy policy released earlier this month said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs also plans to cut its NT$10,000 subsidy for purchasers of electric scooters by 30 percent to NT$7,000 next year. Local governments are also considering cutting their subsidies.
Photo: CNA
“The association is worried about the EPA’s policy of stopping subsidizing the purchases of new electric scooters in 2020,” Smart Mobility Association Taiwan chairman Jiann-Chyuan Wang (王健全) said in the first electric scooter white paper released by the association.
“We fear the new policy will bring a negative impact and jeopardize the devlopment of Taiwan’s electric scooter industry. Taiwan’s electric scooter industry is still in its infancy stage and is reliant on the government’s subsidy policy to grow,” Wang said.
Electric scooters accounted for 2.1 percent of the nation’s overall scooter purchases as of Oct. 31, the association said.
The biggest factor affecting consumers’ willingness to replace their fuel-powered scooter with an electric model is government subsidies, the association said.
More than 82 percent of Gogoro Inc (睿能) scooter owners said that the government subsidies were the major reason they switched from a fuel-powered scooter, the white paper said.
Gogoro is the nation’s largest electric scooter manufacturer with a 93 percent market share.
Electric scooter buyers can receive as much as NT$30,000 in subsidies from central and local governments, making them more affordable. On average, the combined subsidies save buyers about 35 percent of the price of mainstream electric scooters, which retail for about NT$70,000.
With the existing subsidy programs due to expire on Dec. 31, 19,496 people had applied for the ministry’s subsidy this month as of yesterday, ministry data showed. That was a 13 percent increase from 17,504 applicants in October.
Electric scooter subsidy applications soared 47 percent in October from 11,956 a month earlier, ministry data showed. The ministry has subsidized the purchases of 129,200 electric scooters since the beginning of this year.
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