In an effort to reduce emission from vehicles, the government is planning to import three hundred electric taxis.
The electric cars will replace the existing taxis in Thimphu which runs on fuel. The initiative is a part of the Global Environment Facility or GFE project. In its first phase, the government will bring in only 100 electric cars to be used as taxis.
These vehicles will not come in as new taxis, but instead replace the current ones. The project will be implied only to cab drivers, whose Taxi Operating Permit (TOP) is registered in Thimphu.
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) says the taxi drivers will first have to apply to get the electric cars and then dispose off their old ones. “Taxi drivers having TOP can get electric car after registering with us. Once they get the car, their TOP for old taxis will automatically be used for electric taxis too,” said Dasho Karma W Penjor, the MoIC Secretary.
However, if the taxi drivers want to sell the electric car, they will have to sell it as a private vehicle, not as a taxi. Under the project, the government is also working to install 23 additional quick charging stations in Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue and Phuentshogling.
Inadequate charging station is currently one of the drawbacks to promote electric cars in the country. Although majority of the taxi drivers are interested, they are also concerned.
“Apart from Thimphu, but there are many taxi drivers from different dzongkhags coming here to do business. If the opportunity is also given to them, it will be great,” said one of the taxi drivers, Rinzin Chophel.
Others have reservations about the number of kilometres the electric cars cover at one go.
“If this car could travel up to 300 km at a time, it would be good for our taxi business. The electric cars that we have today, travel not more than 80km,” added another taxi driver, Kinzang Namgyal.
Today, Thimphu alone has about 3,000 taxis which run on fossil fuel. With this initiative, the ministry also hopes to decongest Thimphu’s vehicle population. The draft project has been submitted to GEF for final endorsement.
