About one-quarter of municipal buses in Taiwan had swapped to electric by the end of last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said today, as it seeks to completely electrify city bus services by 2030.
The Executive Yuan on May 26, 2023, approved a plan to electrify municipal bus services by 2030, to be implemented starting from last year.
The total budget for the plan is NT$64.2 billion (US$1.95 billion), NT$45.1 billion of which is to come from the MOTC, while the Ministry of Environment is to contribute the remainder, according to a ministry report submitted to the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
Photo: CNA
A total of 14,500 buses are to be retrofitted or purchased, 11,700 for city buses and 2,800 for other types of public bus services, it said.
As of the end of November last year, 1,926 electric buses had been issued license plates nationwide, while subsidies were approved for another 2,080, 1,364 of which have already been issued, the report said.
Additionally, 10,086 charging stations for passenger vehicles had been set up in parking lots nationwide by the end of November, including 7,681 slow-charging and 2,405 fast-charging stations, it said.
Based on the 92,156 registered electric passenger vehicles in Taiwan, that means there is one charger for every 9.1 vehicles, and one fast charger for every 38.3 vehicles, the ministry said, adding that this meets the EU’s recommended ratios of 10-1 and 80-1 respectively.
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