Macau Matters | Electric Taxis

Richard Whitfield

Every so often my wife drags me to Zhuhai to see what is new there. I do not mind because progress in Zhuhai is a good benchmark for improvements here, but all too often Macau falls behind. A case in point is the fully electric taxi made by BYD that we recently rode in Zhuhai – why isn’t Macau leading the way in having electric taxis?
Electric vehicles are clearly a major technological trend and they are starting to take over from vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Moreover, hybrid vehicles that combine internal combustion and electric motors are only a transition technology and in the long term fully electric vehicles will be the norm.
Fully electric vehicles are mechanically much simpler, and thus can lower capital and operating costs and be much more reliable. Electric motors can also outperform equivalent internal combustion motors. As important, is the fact that electricity as a fuel source can be much less polluting. Converting most of the world’s vehicle fleet to electric and eliminating their consumption of fossil fuels will be necessary if we are to achieve global climate change goals (to keep the temperature rise below 2 degrees).
The big question mark is battery capacity and energy density and we are steadily climbing the technology curve with lithium ion batteries to resolve these issues. I am sure that over the next 10-20 years fully electric vehicle sales will grow to take 50+% market share.
6-7 years ago I was peripherally involved in a project to develop an initial prototype for an electric car in association with Sun Yat Sen University in Guangzhou. The end goal of the project was specifically to create an electric taxi because: (1) taxis are fleet sales so you can focus your marketing efforts on a small number of relatively sophisticated buyers; (2) the buying decision is strongly driven by comparative life-cycle costs and electric taxis can have significantly lower costs; (3) taxis work from depots so you only need a small number of recharging stations; (4) taxis can create very good word of mouth for general vehicle sales if passengers and drivers like their experience; (5) the travel distance in one operating shift could be covered by one full charge of the vehicle batteries so that range limitations are not an issue.
Unfortunately, the project I was involved in did not get past the initial prototype, but I did get to drive it in Guangzhou. I and others drove the open chassis before the body was fitted and the acceleration and smoothness of the ride were excellent. We drove it on the public roads without being concerned with red tape, and it was great fun. I miss that freedom in Macau where nowadays we seem to be ever more constricted by rules and regulations.
The concept was excellent then and still is now. And Macau is the perfect place for electric taxis. Why they are successfully operating in Zhuhai and not Macau is beyond me – can somebody from the relevant government department explain the problem to me?
BYD as a company never really impressed me – they are really a battery manufacturer more than a vehicle manufacturer. Nonetheless, the BYD electric taxi I rode in Zhuhai was a very reasonable vehicle and its power and acceleration was quite noticeable. There seemed to be quite few of them on the road. Unfortunately, my non-existent Chinese language skills meant that I could not ask the driver for his opinion on the vehicle, but as a passenger I was impressed. I had thought that Warren Buffett’s investment in BYD was a mistake, but I am reconsidering that view.
When can we see the first fully electric taxi in Macau?