Peng Mingyi, Marketing Vice President of Gogoro, suggests that Gogoro does not position itself as an electric motorcycle manufacturer; instead, what they really want to do is a concept industry with energy sustainability. With 37% of Taiwan's air pollution coming from emissions from vehicles, the level of PM2.5 pollution in Taiwan ranks Top 2 among OECD member states. The number of annual deaths due to respiratory-related cancer deaths in Taiwan is 8,600, while that of motor vehicle accidents is 1,819, out of which 70% are related to motorcycles. Riding motorcycles is very dangerous; in fact, the air we breathe is just as dangerous. Everyone breathes the same air.
The countries in Europe or United States which heavily subsidize electric vehicles are those with electric vehicles industry. In fact, shared motorcycles are worth considering. If Taiwan can demonstrate good management of motorcycles, the shared motorcycles would be a special solution. Also, how Taiwan handles the problem of motorcycles displays national management skills.
Most problems in motorcycles center on safety issues. Riding motorcycles is already a national security issue; 80% of car accidents related to motorcycles. In the future, improvements will be carried out on charging fees on motorcycles. Government will surely invest in related industries. Although many past cases cooperated between government and private sector did not get a positive return, the government still keeps an open attitude. The purpose of choosing which industry to support is to move towards international stages. We've seen more varieties of Taiwan's transportation construction in the past 20 years, and the related industries in Taiwan are still with potential of expanding. The government is very supportive of innovative industries; therefore, in the next step, we have to encourage the use of shared vehicles, and must have a solution to the problem.