The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) yesterday urged the government to build charging infrastructure before mapping out business models for “new energy vehicles” (NEVs) if it wants to help the industry.
Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association general secretary Christina Bu made the suggestion during a forum in Taoyuan on international insights and best practices that are crucial to the development of NEVs.
“Just do it,” Bu said about NEV policies.
The bottleneck for NEV development in Taiwan has much to do with uncertainty over specifications for charging stations, Bu said.
South Korea settled on a specific charging station in 2016, which made international automakers more willing to take part in the related investment, Bu said, adding that the US, Japan, China and the EU have all set their own standards.
A NEV model pioneered by Japan’s Nissan Motor Co is also popular in Norway, with a market share of 2 percent, she said.
Developers of new residential, commercial and public spaces should take charging facilities into consideration when planning construction projects, Bu said.
Last year, more than 1.7 million plug-in and battery electric vehicles were sold worldwide, up nearly 40 percent year-on-year, while the global production of battery electric vehicles is expected to reach 3.5 million units next year and 14.8 million by 2025, the ECCT said.
Major global automakers have announced aggressive plans for launching electric vehicles by 2022, as electrification is deemed the prerequisite for other major trends, such as autonomous driving and connected vehicles, it said.
The trend would have significant consequences for both the automotive assembly and parts manufacturing industries, while disrupting regulatory supervision, infrastructure, energy supply, service providers and consumer behavior, among others, it added.
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