New Gogoro (and other) Electric scooter subsidies

So the rumors that the Gogoro refunds were ending have now been debunked.
Her is an article forwarded to me by the AMPA convention guys deglossing the situation
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Electric Scooter Market Heats Up, Additional Subsidies are Planned

2019/03/19

(Source: Commercial Times, March 8, 2019)

There are rumors that the subsidy budget for electric scooters will be exhausted before the second half of the year. The Industrial Development Bureau, MOEA said on the 7th that the subsidy budget for 2019 is NT$606 million. So far, subsidies have been awarded to 14,900 scooters. If the market is hot in the second half of the year, the amount of subsidies set aside will be comparable to last year’s budget; the bureau will strive for additional funds from the Executive Yuan.

MOEA originally expected to subsidize 40,000 vehicles in 2019, but upper management is optimistic about this year’s electric scooters, and expects the number to double to 80,000 or even more than 100,000. Thus, in April, MOEA will strive for an additional subsidy of NT$300 million from the Executive Yuan.

Industrial Development Bureau officials said that this is the second year of the five-year subsidy plan for electric scooters. A total of 78,676 electric scooters were subsidized in 2018. Since the subsidy for last year was NT$572 million, in the fourth quarter of last year, MOEA appealed to the Executive Yuan for an additional support of NT$300 million from the petroleum fund. The subsidy totaled NT$872 million, and the number of subsidized scooters increased from 36,000 to 78,000.

Officials said that this year’s total subsidy budget is NT$606 million, which will be used for newly purchased electric scooters and charging stations. Since purchasing new electric scooters is more popular, the subsidy funds will be mainly used for the purchase of electric scooters.

The Industrial Development Bureau has subsidized the purchase of new electric scooters since 2009. According to statistics, as of March 6 this year, the Industrial Development Bureau has subsidized 14,923 electric scooters, of which, subsidies for consumers that purchased Gogoro accounted for the most with a proportion of 97%, followed by Kymco at only 3%. In terms of counties and cities, Taoyuan accounts for the largest number of scooters purchased, accounting for 23%, followed by Kaohsiung City, accounting for 18%, and Tainan City, ranking third with 16%.

Officials emphasized that the Industrial Development Bureau will pay close attention to the market conditions and will care about the water level. The willingness and motivation of the public to purchase new cars will mainly change with pricing and the release of new models. The Industrial Development Bureau will conduct a rolling review, as long as the market conditions are hot and there is a need for subsidies. When needed, additional subsidies will be awarded.

It is reported that the Industrial Development Bureau estimates that the number of new scooters will grow by 6,000 to 8,000 each month. Originally, it was estimated that the subsidy budget will be exhausted by August or September. However, as the industry may propose a discount strategy or use new scooter models to attract consumers, the subsidy may be used up in the first half of the year. Thus, the bureau expects to obtain additional subsidies from the Executive Yuan in April.

At present, MOEA awards NT$10,000 per heavy and light grade scooter, and NT$7,200 to small and light scooters. If the battery cores used in the electric scooters and their anode materials, electrolytes, and copper foils are made by domestic producers, then an additional subsidy of NT$2,000 will be awarded. Current models that use domestic battery cores are produced by two companies, emoving and KuanMei.

This website is organized by|![Taiwan External Trade Development Council, TAITRA]

Woah… sorry bout the headliners dropped in there.
They do link back to the page of you guys are curious.
Pre-registration is still open
Looks like an awesome event if you like EV or cars… or motorcycles. Or tech. Haha