The Taipei Auto Show opened on Thursday after a four-year hiatus, with car brands putting their hybrid and electric models front and center.
More than 100 vehicle models from more than 20 local and international brands are being presented at the five-day show, a biennial event last held from Dec. 28, 2019, to Jan. 5, 2020, the Taipei Automobile Distributors’ Association said.
In addition to a newly established exhibition of new-energy vehicles, including electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid models, at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, the event is also being attended by companies in EV-related businesses, the association said in a statement on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
Vehicle manufacturers at the show include Taiwan-based Luxgen, Aston Martin, Nissan, Lotus, Subaru, Vespa and Tesla, which for the first time are joined by EV charging solution providers such as Delta Electronics Co (台達電) and Yulon Group’s (裕隆集團) YES-Energy Service Co (裕電能源), the association said.
Gaming PC manufacturer Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) is also displaying its EV chargers for home and commercial use.
Several car company executives on Thursday shared their views on the development of the EV market in Taiwan at the auto show.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) president Chung Wen-chuan (鐘文川) said he expected new-energy vehicles to take about a 25 to 30 percent share of the global car market by 2030.
There is a market for hybrid models in the short term, as the sector still needs to overcome the challenges posed by the high price of EVs and inconvenient charging infrastructure, he said.
Apart from the rising price of raw materials and components, EV production capacity has been restricted by the need for more chips and batteries in vehicles, leading to delayed deliveries, Chung said.
Two Japanese brands distributed by Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車) in Taiwan, Lexus and Toyota, exhibited a wide range of hybrid and electric models.
Hotai spokesman Simon Liu (劉松山) said the Japanese brand has solved most of its issues surrounding chip supplies, but its production in Japan has reached full capacity, with the brand seeking to adjust production lines to improve output.
The high price of EVs is caused by a lack of economic scale, and limited sales, and if production can be expanded to meet higher demand, the price of such vehicles could drop to about NT$1 million (US$32,536) or lower, Liu said.
Liu said he also looked forward to the introduction of Toyota’s Mirai series, with electric and hybrid models, equipped with hydrogen fuel cells, displayed at the auto show.
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