Long Way to Go for Green Energy Auto Vehicle in China
2009-05-19 Source:english.chinabuses.com
Summarize:As the first electric vehicle model with production approval from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 2008EV has become available to local customers since March 2009.
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As the first electric vehicle model with production approval from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 2008EV has become available to local customers since March 2009.
Within ten years, any automaker that gives up gasoline and diesel oil and focuses on green energy cars will fail to survive the market, pointed out Zhao Fuquan, vice president of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, because the renewable energy technology is far from large-scale industrialization.
Renewable energy vehicles will first become commercialized in the bus field, believed Wang Wenbing, deputy general manager of Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd. The Chinese government provides subsidies of CNY 80,000 to CNY 600,000 for buses based on green energy, much higher than those for passenger and light commercial vehicles.
Automakers like Shanghai Sunwin Bus Corporation, Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd, and Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company have obtained large orders.
Another barrier for the development of renewable energy vehicles is the shortage of associated equipment. General Motors Corporation has been in contact with State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), and China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. (CSG) for the construction of changing stations, disclosed Kevin Wale, CEO of the automobile giant in charge of the China region.
However, it needs substantial breakthroughs in the negotiation with the Chinese party. In October 2008, when Chevrolet announced that it would launch Volt, a plug-in series hybrid vehicle, in the Chinese market in 2011, GM showed its intention to cooperate with SGCC. But no progress had made in the past half year.
To build 100,000 charging stations in China, CNY 25 billion to CNY 30 billion are needed, which is a mission impossible for any single automaker, analyzed Ding Lei, general manager of Shanghai General Motors Co. Ltd. (Shanghai GM), the Chinese executer of Chevrolet's Volt project.
Customers will have to wait at least ten years to have access to private electric vehicles, because of the high costs for the upgrade of power grids and construction of charging stations, said Sun Fengchun, vice president of Beijing Institute of Technology.
In September 2008, SGCC declared its support for the construction of charging stations in some large cities of China. However, only Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou so far have had charging systems for buses.
Passenger carmakers currently face three major problems for the development of renewable energy vehicles: to get production licenses, to apply for subsidies to private customers, and to build charging stations.
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