Other Asia

[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]

Asian Development Bank providing $300M towards replacing 100K gasoline trikes with E-Trikes in the Philippines; $300M for major road upgrades in Chhattisgarh, India

December 11, 2012

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $300 million towards a project that will replace 100,000 gasoline-burning tricycles in the Philippines with electric tricycles, or E-Trikes.

About 3.5 million gas-fueled motorcycles and tricycles are currently operating in the Philippines, typically serving as short-distance taxis, with the average tricycle driver earning less than $10 a day. E-Trike drivers will save upwards of $5 a day in fuel costs, and the new E-Trikes have the capacity to carry more passengers. E-Trike drivers saw their daily incomes more than double during a pilot program in Metro Manila.

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Singapore introducing stiff new feebate scheme for low carbon cars

November 29, 2012

Singapore will implement a new Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEV) on 1 January 2012, providing rebates to qualified new cars, taxis, and imported used cars with low carbon emissions, and imposing an equivalent surcharge on higher emitting vehicles. This new scheme will replace the existing Green Vehicle Rebate (GVR) scheme that will expire on 31 December 2012.

Under CEV, all new cars, taxis, and imported used cars registered from 1 January 2013 with low carbon emissions of less than or equal to 160g CO₂/km will qualify for rebates of between S$5,000 and S$20,000 (US$4,097 to US$16,389), which will be offset against the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) payable.

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Kia introduces Ray EV in Korea; 2,500 units to be produced in 2012 for use by government agencies

December 22, 2011

The Ray EV. Click to enlarge.

Kia Motors has introduced Korea’s first production electric vehicle from a major manufacturer. At the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year, Yang Woong-chul, vice president of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, said that within the group, Kia will focus on electric cars, while Hyundai will work on plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. (Earlier post.)

The new Kia Ray EV is an electric city car with a range of up to 139 km (86 miles) on a single charge. For supply exclusively to the domestic Korean market, the Kia Ray EV is a close relative of Kia’s 1.0-liter gasoline powered Ray CUV, which went on sale in Korea last month. It shares that model’s major dimensions and can share a production line with conventional combustion-engine cars.

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