Shanghai, March 26 (Gasgoo.com) Taiwan's automaker Yulon Motor Co. said yesterday that the company may suspend its plan to produce electric cars locally and instead start production in China's mainland, as the island's authorities lack an overall electric car development plan, local media reported.
Taiwan has put forward a three-year, 3,000 unit plan as an incentive for its automakers to develop electric cars locally, but the plan seems unrealistic, said Yulon Motor General Manager Chen Kuo-rong, because 3,000 units are too few to allow any automaker to start commercial production, given the high cost of batteries in particular.
Chen advised the local government to issue a more generous policy for electric car development, which is an irreversible trend amid growing environmental awareness, and end the incentives only after electric cars become normal on Taiwanese roads and can compete with traditional vehicles, said Focus Taiwan News Channel.
In December 2009, Yulon Group announced its plans to mass-produce its Luxgen-brand cars in 2010 in its mainland joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp. Yulon's recently Taiwan-made car, the Luxgen, is described as an "intelligent" car with special high-tech features.
Yulon Motor has also decided to make electric cars based on Geely's gasoline-powered small Panda model, by converting the Geely Panda into a lithium-ion battery-powered car. The cars will be sold both in Taiwan and mainland China under Yulon's Tobe brand.
