CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding with Tangeng Advanced Vehicles Co (唐榮車輛科技) to jointly develop a homegrown electric bus, with the first vehicle to hit the road as early as March.
CPC and Tangeng are aiming to win the right to operate shuttle services at Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (台灣高鐵) stations with a fleet of electric buses, and speed up Taiwan’s adoption of “green” transportation and smart city technologies, the companies told a news conference in Taipei.
CPC is to oversee the rollout of battery charging stations and supply lithium titanate for Tangeng to build quick-charging lithium-titanate (LTO) batteries, while SF-eBus (四方電巴公司), Tangeng’s investee, is to build and operate a fleet of electric buses, they said.
The first electric bus could be launched in Tainan, and high- speed rail stations across Taiwan could potentially have 149 shuttle bus routes, they said.
The project could help CPC accelerate the commercialization of its LTO batteries and other key battery technologies that the state-run refiner has been developing since 2011, CPC said.
Meanwhile, CPC chairman Tai Chein (戴謙) downplayed complaints by its workers’ union, which last week said it would call for a vote of no confidence against him.
The union has said that Tai does not have a background in petrochemicals and has been leading the company astray by taking on other ventures, such as batteries.
Tai, who was appointed about a year ago, also broke protocol by promising double reimbursement to motorists affected by October’s tainted gasoline incident without gaining approval from the board of directors, the union said.
“Battery technology is a vital part of CPC’s transition toward ‘green’ technology and in line with the nation’s plans for industrial innovation,” Tai said, adding that these efforts are not merely side projects.
He also said he accepted the union’s criticisms with thanks.
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