The Environmental Protection Adminstration’s (EPA) stimulus package aimed at boosting the sales of electric scooters has had a limited effect, while environmentalists questioned the “green” credentials of electric vehicles, as they rely on coal-fired electricity to charge their batteries.
There were 13.73 million gasoline-powered motorcycles in the nation as of last year — a majority of which were four-stroke models — including 2.2 million two-stroke models, most of which were equipped with 50cc engines, the EPA said.
Two-stroke scooters emit 18 times the hydrocarbons and twice the carbon oxides of four-stroke models, thereby contributing to four to 10 times more pollution than four-stroke scooters, making the replacement of two-stroke vehicles the EPA’s top priority, the agency said, adding that the nation has not manufactured two-stroke scooters since 2004.
There are 91 motorcycles per 100 adults in the nation, compared with 32.8 cars per 100 adults, making scooters the primary means of transportation, with a total of 13.68 million registered scooters as of October, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Annual scooter sales in the nation had approached 1 million units prior to 2000, but the number has since dropped to about 600,000 units per year due to rising prices caused by higher environmental standards that incrase manufacturing costs, while electric models have accounted for only a fraction of annual scooter sales — about 30,000 — according to the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Association.
The scarcity of charging stations and battery swap stations, as well as the lower performance and the higher retail price of electric vehicles have made electric scooters a less cost-effective option for consumers, the Industrial Development Bureau said, adding that falling oil prices since last year also had a negative effect on electric scooter sales.
Meanwhile, regarding the potential effects of electric vehicles on the reduction of carbon emissions, Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said that fossil fuel power plants remain the largest electricity source in Taiwan, so electric scooters might only shift the pollution source from road emissions to power-plant emissions.
However, power plants are equipped with filters and therefore emit less carbon than gasoline-powered vehicles Hsieh said, adding that when the pollution caused by battery manufacturing plants and the limited lifespan of batteries were considered, the efficiency of electric scooters in reducing carbon emissions remained unclear.
An electric scooter with the equivalent of a 100cc engine costs between NT$68,000 and NT$70,000 (US$2,078 and US$2,139) after subsidies — close to the prices of gasoline-powered scooters.
However, electric models have captured much less market share than traditional scooters, which, Hsieh said, could be attributed to the difficulty posed by having to charge batteries, as well as the weaker endurance and short lifespans of the batteries, which typically last about five years.
Hydrogen vehicles have been approved for road use in Japan, while Taiwan has yet to implement measures for hydrogen fuel cells, he said, calling on the government to speed up the development of hydrogen vehicle infrastructure.
EPA senior analyst Hu Ming-hui (胡明輝) said that the nation lacks the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen vehicles, such as securing fuel sources and building charging stations, adding that the US and Japan have constructed hydrogen filling stations, but Taiwan has refrained from constructing more gas stations, let alone hydrogen stations.
Taiwan Renewable Energy Alliance managing director Kao Ju-ping (高茹萍) said promoting electric vehicles is the correct policy, but it is crucial to use renewable energy to power electric vehicles to pave the way for a sustainable and nuclear-free future.
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