《TAIPEI TIMES》 Chunghwa Post rolls out electric fleet for carriers

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

Chunghwa Post （中華郵政） is planning to spend NT$650 million （US$22 million） over the next six years to replace its fleet of motorcycles with electric scooters.

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The company has so far replaced 1,627 motorcycles with electric scooters as part of the government’s efforts to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions, prevent air pollution and develop “green” energy, Chunghwa Post chairman Wang Kwo-tsai （王國材） said.

By 2023, the entire fleet — 8,946 scooters — would be electric, Wang said.

The Executive Yuan has set a goal of banning the sale of gasoline-powered motorcycles by 2035, but the firm would stop using them 12 years sooner, he said.

The first batch of electric scooters would be used in urban areas in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Yilan and Penghu counties, as they can run for 50km at a time, Wang said, adding that the company has budgeted funds to buy 600 scooters this year.

If the company succeeds in having an all-electric fleet by 2023, the amount of carbon emissions that could be reduced each year would be equal to the amount of carbon dioxide that could be absorbed by almost eight Daan Forest Parks, the company said.

Postal service management section head Chen Le-ming （陳樂明） said the carriers delivering mail in urban areas travel about 20km per day, which could easily be done on electric scooters, but traditional motorcycles would still have to be used in mountainous areas or those requiring carriers to travel longer distances.

The company has leased 1,000 of the 1,627 scooters from a private contractor to compare the costs and benefits of renting versus purchasing, Chen said.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan （賀陳旦） said that he hoped the electric fleet would be used more efficiently, with carriers sharing scooters so that there would not have to be a one-to-one replacement rate.

“Instead of using 9,000 electric scooters, you probably only need 3,000,” Hochen said.

The postal firm should control the costs of running a fleet of electric scooters, including the costs of charging and replacing the batteries and comparing the costs of different electric scooters, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES