Taiwan needs to stop subsidising fuel

Discussion Open Forum
1

I’m an EV owner, and honestly, Taiwan’s current policies don’t make much sense to me.

Right now, the government is effectively pushing the market away from EV adoption by subsidising fuel during this crisis. I get that it’s meant to ease short-term pressure, but it sends the wrong signal long-term. If petrol is artificially kept cheap, there’s less incentive for people to switch to EVs.

For a place like Taiwan, this feels like a missed opportunity.

Taiwan is a relatively small island. Daily driving distances are short, infrastructure is dense, and range anxiety is far less of an issue compared to countries like Australia or the US. On top of that, with the recent announcement around restarting nuclear power plants, Taiwan is actually in a strong position to support EVs with stable, low-emission electricity.

That combination (short distances + reliable power) basically makes Taiwan one of the most ideal environments in the world for EV adoption.

Instead of subsidising fuel, it would make more sense to double down on EV incentives, expand charging infrastructure (mandate chargers at every apartment parking spot), and encourage the transition now while the conditions are right.

In Australia I got my Zeekr 7x on a novated lease which for me is a full tax deduction and on my salary it means essentially a 37% discount on all the repayments. Taiwan should think of something similar.

From my perspective as an EV owner, once you switch, you don’t really want to go back. Lower running costs, less maintenance, and a smoother driving experience. Taiwan could lean into that advantage, but right now, policy seems to be pulling in the opposite direction.

Curious what others think.

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Taiwanese should not subsidising Aussies with not enough cash for just saying Taiwan is good, news story

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Pleasure subsidize me a poor Irishman I need money for the nappies and milk for the babbie.

Taiwan is good..
Nae it’s fantastic :heart_eyes:
Best food is in Kaohsiung :sweat_smile:

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Two quid coin is ok? It’s a meal here

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I have a second hand Honda Civic that I bought for 150k, I’ve got a second hand blue truck I got for $150K. I’ve got a Mazda 3 that I bought in 2009 for 550K. All my cars were purchased with cash and they all still look and run fine.

Why do you want me to buy a new EV car?

No, my cars are fine and gas is cheap.

I don’t care about EV.

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Could pay cash for mine. But the novated lease including the residual at the end works out to save me 10,000aud over paying cash upfront.

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I’ll sort you out mate, one bag of potatoes coming your way. :potato:

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Wrong thread, pervert! :wink:

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He seems to have mental health problems, it’s no harm to help people out a little..Don’t need to give him money just give him some food etc.

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10

While EV is obviously the future for personal transport, I honestly don’t think the energy infrastructure is quite there for mass adoption… YET. Taiwan is still very dependent on fossil fuels, incl. natural gas… so I agree with you that it could be an incentive in the longer term.

But when your power generation still uses fossil fuels, there’s really not much ‘green’ in going ‘green’. Unless oc the green is dollars. Turning on the ‘nukes’ again might provide some solace on that front… but it’s not a permanent solution. As an intermediate solution, it’s probably the best one… but flipflopping on nuclear power doesn’t make us any ‘safer’ if the alternative is a warming planet.

It’s complex: govt. policies, power generation, power supply, product quality, market acceptance, infrastructure adoption all make the answer harder. I for one believe that gasoline for cars in general is way too cheap here, even additional taxation would be a step in the right direction. But you know, voters are fickle.

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I agree with you but let’s be honest…most people in Taiwan will always use gas powered scooters

I just put down for an EV in taiwan (sigh) and yes I agree they make sense on a small island like Taiwan…but I doubt they’ll ever be mainstream due to effective demand.

Nuclear…I wonder what China would have to say about that…

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Scooters are still viable over large parts of Asia. And the EV push continues..and will continue.

Doesn’t take a genius to work that one out.

Taiwan dropped the ball on EV scooters so bad that its just sad. I love Taiwan but in terms of driving its one of the most backwards thinking pathetic places on the planet.

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But will people buy?

14

I gather that other road users give you a lot of room when you drive that Sir!

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Well in Australia it is not subsidised - and right now in Sydney a Litre of E10 will cost you around AUD 2.50 / TWD 51. Diesel is a whopping AUD 3.10 / TWD 66. Its gone up by nearly 100% since things began in the Middle East, some no doubt due to Price Gouging by retailers.

Included in that price is $0.52 per Litre Fuel Excise, and then GST of 10%. There have been calls for the Excise to be reduced, but the answer is a firm NO.

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16

If they are cheaper to buy and run than fuel then yes. If fuel and fuel scooter companies are given subsidies by the govt then predictably: no.

Priorities.

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EVs could easily be mainstream here already if Chinese imports were permitted, but they aren’t so this is where we are.

By the way I heard that CPC i.e the Taiwan govt is currently subsiding every litre of petrol sold by 26 ntd. Which seems insane to me to be subsidising rich people in SUVs etc.

It’s wasteful and expensive to do this for taxpayers and doesn’t benefit the environment.

Taiwan needs to do things better than this.

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I’m a big believer that 'there is no replacement for displacement’ and happy that gas is subsidized. Like me my gas vehicles.

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Taiwan is experiencing a shortage of electricity, and its current power supply mainly relies on fossil-fuel-based thermal generation. In the short term, using electric vehicles does not offer significant advantages. Without subsidies, electric vehicles are more expensive than gasoline cars. Moreover, incomes in Taiwan are generally low, so most people have little willingness to replace their cars and remain highly price-sensitive.

What Taiwan truly needs is to strengthen public transportation. This is not the United States—there is no real need for everyone to own a car.

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Not back in the day. These days, turbos and electric motors. ::stuck_out_tongue:

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