A viable niche market - fuel cell scooters in Taiwan

Taiwan is a place marketed by intensive scooter use because of limited space and transportation habits. Because internal-combustion-engine scooters cause serious environmental pollution, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Government of the Republic of China, executes policies-such as the strict exhaust standard, "Electric Motorcycle Development Action plan"-and provides a subsidy for purchasing electric scooters. The main objective of the EPA has been to encourage the use of electric scooters and gradually weed out the highly polluting engine scooters. However, the policies have not worked well because of the poor performance of lead-acid or nickel-hydrogen batteries as well as the lack of recharge stations. Therefore, consumers have not been willing to purchase electric scooters. To overcome the problems of battery powered electric scooters, producers have been working to apply fuel cell technology. This paper will discuss the current situation of battery powered electric scooters under the Taiwan government's supports, as well as the expected development of fuel cell scooters in view of commercial aspects, such as economics, consumer demand, niche markets and government intervention. In order to integrate the development of fuel cell technology with the capabilities of industry, government, and academic research, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) is organizing the Taiwan Fuel Cell Partnership (TFCP). Among the projects of the TFCP, promoting fuel cell scooters is the most important in the beginning phase. Furthermore, in alliance with associates, TIER is planning to hold a demonstration program of fuel cell scooters on Green Island, an islet close to Taiwan. Hopefully, fuel cell scooters will be commercialized in 2004. Taiwan is one of the world's major producers of engine scooters. There are over 18 million scooters sold in Asia every year. Taiwan is now making an effort to apply new technology for developing fuel cell scooters. In addition to eliminating the pollutants made by engine scooters in Taiwan, the fuel cell scooters should be promoted to the huge scooter market in Asia. (C) 2003 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.