Business Times: Liu, Zhusong 2022.01.26
Wu, Dingfa, chairman of Master Transportation, stood in front of the company's latest electric bus, showing the company's determination of the electric bus market deployment. Photo / Liu Zhusong
The trend of the future market of electric vehicles is astronomical! To speed up the construction of the factory, Chairman Wu, Dingfa of Master Transportation, visited Changhua County Mayor Huimei Wang on the 25th and revealed the related matters of setting up a factory in the Erlin Science and Technology Industrial Park. Jinwen Xu, a special assistant to the chairman of Master Transportation, said that the company plans to lease 20 hectares of land in the Erlin Industrial Park to build an electric bus factory. The first phase will invest 2 billion NTD in construction. The production capacity is more than 2,000 vehicles, and the annual production capacity of the chassis EIC system for export is 10,000 sets.
Master Transportation is currently planning and designing the factory. After the construction starts, the trial production is scheduled to be completed by 2023. Then, Master Transportation will put the electric bus into operation in the first quarter of 2024.
In addition, under the operation plan of the Ministry of Communication's "Electric Bus Piloting Plan Subsidy," Master Transportation cooperated with Changhua Bus Operator. Changhua Bus Operator adopted 29 Master Transportation Class A electric buses. Bus operators can receive a subsidy of up to 10 million NTD per vehicle, including a one-time subsidy of 7 million NTD for the purchase of a bus and an additional operating subsidy of 3 million NTD, which the government will pay each year in a 12-year length. The "Electric Bus Piloting Plan Subsidy" review of the operation plan is held by the Ministry of Communications. Two electric bus manufacturers were selected: RAC Electric Vehicles Inc. and Master Transportation.
Jinwen Xu pointed out that Master Transportation applied for leasing 20 hectares of land in Erlin Industrial Park, and the first phase will invest 2 billion NTD. The Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau has held a briefing on land lease to give relevant suggestions or opinions to Master Transportation, including increasing the floor area ratio and other advice.
Jinwen Xu emphasized that the electric bus manufacturing factory in Erlin Industrial Park adopts an automatic production line. Due to the weight of each electric bus, the electric bus assembly line is currently designed to be placed on the ground floor and entrusted to an architect for planning and design. After making corrections or explanations, a reply to the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau will be made no later than the end of February.
Master Transportation Erlin Industrial Park Electric Bus Manufacturing Factory's initial target market is mainly domestic. Saudi Arabia and Master Transportation are in contact for future collaboration for our foreign target market.
Master Transportation said that the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu and the Saudi Arabian International Industrial Zone Company signed a memorandum of cooperation on June 29, 2021, to establish an industrial settlement in Yanbu. Master Transportation will export electric bus technology to Saudi Arabia and set up a factory in Yanbu.
Wistron's board of directors has approved the proposal to sign a letter of intent subscription for shares of Master Transportation within a limit of 1.8 billion NTD to participate in the cash capital increase of Master Transportation. Master Transportation revealed that the whole case is in progress, and if the capital increase is completed, it will have a positive effect on the future operation.
Similarly, Mobiletron Co., Ltd. spent 2.5 billion NTD to build a plant in Zhonggang, Taichung. Its Subsidiary company, RAC Electric Vehicles Inc., plans to manufacture electric bus1,700 units annually and an annual capacity of 7,000 chassis EIC system buses. RAC Electric Vehicles Inc will make trial production after the Lunar New Year and produce small batches in February and March.
In addition, taking the electric bus cooperation case between RAC Electric Vehicles Inc. and Nishitetsu Bus of Japan as an example. RAC Electric Vehicles Inc provides technical authorization and will manufacture electric buses by Nishitetsu to comply with the local regulations of Japanese electric buses so that the cooperation case between the two parties can enter the Japanese market.
