The Innovative Financing Model for Electronic Bus Development

The development of electric bus is crucial to the energy efficiency and CO2 reduction policies around the world. The research and manufacture technology of electric buses and batteries have matured in Taiwan, resulting in an established industrial chain. The development is promising. However, obstacles, such as the lack of infrastructure, high cost to build a bus, insufficient maintenance and servicing system and lack of essential knowledge to run an electric bus operation, are blocking the way for the development of electric bus. To solve them, we worked with electric bus manufacturer and bus services with experience in electric bus operations for operation diagnosis. The diagnosis revealed that the "financial pressure from operational capitals" is the top factor making the operation of electric bus difficult. In particular, the high cost to build one has the greatest impact. Secondly, an analysis on the models of traditional leasing and charging by mileage was performed to find out the strengths of both. An innovative and practically feasible financing model was developed by combining the separation of bus and electricity and green financing. Finally, an actuarial calculation was conducted to validate the effects of the model which is likely to minimize the operation risks for bus companies.