Taipei, June 9 (CNA) A domestic airplane maker and train car producer have teamed up to explore the electric bus market, and they expect to unveil a new, lightweight electric bus model in seven months that they hope will have a market overseas.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC), a maker of military and civil aviation products, said its chairman, Hu Kai-hung, has inked a strategic alliance memorandum of understanding with Tangeng Advanced Vehicles Co. (TAV) Chairman Jonathan Ho to seal the partnership.
The two companies intend to build a fully low-floor electric bus, with a particular focus on developing a lightweight structural frame, the vehicle control unit (VCU) that serves as the vehicle's nerve center, and the cable harness assembly, the statement said.
If successful, the bus would become Taiwan's only fully low-floor electric bus made of a lightweight aluminum alloy.
According to the statement, AIDC and TAV expect to unveil the new product within seven months and begin selling it in the first quarter of 2022.
Through the partnership, AIDC and TAV expect to support the government's goal of all long-distance passenger buses in Taiwan being electric and built domestically by 2030, Hu said.
Beyond sales in the domestic market, however, the two companies are also hoping to break into overseas markets such as the United States and Japan, it said.
Hu also noted the two companies' efforts to build a larger ecosystem to support the project's development, according to the statement, after TAV signed a deal with Tatung earlier this year to provide some of the power systems for the new bus.
TAV is Taiwan's biggest maker of railway passenger and freight cars as well as commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks.