Speech at the unveiling of three Eclimo electric motorcycles

Submitted by webmaster on Wed, 2011-03-16 12:00
 
Speech at the unveiling of three Eclimo electric motorcycles by Dato Sri Ong Tee Keat
 
Ladies and gentlemen.

It gives me great honour and pleasure to be given this opportunity to address everyone present.

I am honoured because at least, in my short stint as transport minister, I am still remembered for having encouraged the venturing into green technology in the transport sector.

Pleasure because it is a historic occasion for Malaysia’s foray into electric vehicles (EVs) and to be part of this unveiling.

While as transport minister, transport-environment related issues had bugged my conscience.

I told myself that Malaysia and mankind cannot go on polluting our beautiful earth and hope for a prosperous future for our generations.

As transport minister, it was therefore incumbent on me to try and encourage businessmen to seriously venture into cleaner alternative modes of transport.

EVs are definitely cleaner than fossil-fuel-powered vehicles. The only hitch is technology and cost. But we have to start from somewhere.

With today’s unveiling and launch of sales soon, Malaysian businessmen have taken a giant leap into reforming transport and the way man commutes daily.

As in everything else, the cost of EVs is expected to be brought down over time due to competition and aggressive Research & Development (R&D). Just look at technology development of wireless hand phones and lap tops. They are getting more and more affordable by the day.

That is due to demand, R&D and healthy competition.

Transport is one of the biggest culprits of air pollution, contributing to global warming concerns via exhaust pipe emissions.

Let us also not forget the traffic congestions in the cities.

Up to end of 2009, the number of active petrol and diesel-powered vehicles on the road, according to Road Transport Department records, is 19 million. Of the 19 million fossil-fuel powered motor vehicles, 8.9 million are motorcycles.

Can you imagine how much cleaner our environment will be when EVs replace all those polluting motor vehicles that are on the roads today.

The rapid pace of economic development and the need to overcome traffic congestion makes it all that urgent for the government to really encourage businessmen to tap the tremendous potential for EVs, especially starting with electric motorcycles.

Why electric motorcycles? There is growing consensus that electric vehicles are the closest “near to market” green technology.

The battery technology, particularly the application of lithium batteries, has been developing rapidly. The cost of this technology is falling while petrol/diesel fuel prices continue to rise. Fossil fuel prices are likely to continue to rise in the future, making EVs more cost-effective.

EVs are also softer on maintenance compared with conventional motor vehicles, thus contributing to reducing consumer cost.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Based on my years of experience with the government, the success of any initiative will depend on how committed we are in enforcing a policy.

In this case, whatever is the government’s Green Agenda or Green Technology policies, the political will to ensure strict and efficient enforcement will determine success or failure.

To realise the holistic green policies, enforcement must be based on the adopting of truly green technology. Therefore, cost must never be the overriding factor in enforcement and approvals.

If there is a premium to be paid by consumers for adopting truly green technology, so be it, as long as it is commercially viable.

We might as well not venture into EVs if approvals are based only on the lowest cost. Cheap is not always cleaner. Neither is it of better technology.

Enforcement agencies must, therefore, be suitably knowledgeable in the technicalities of green technology in order to make the right decisions.

Once a wrong decision is made and implemented, it is an awesome task to withdraw, as demonstrated in the past.

To propel Malaysia into taking a global lead in green technology and tackling global warming issues, the government must be fully committed to implementing holistic policies.

I see the government taking a step in the right direction by introducing a green technology ministry last year and for tax cuts in EVs in the Budget for this year.

That is a good start and of course there is much more to be done to forward Malaysia’s green agenda.

I wish everyone all the best in playing a role in greening our environment.

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