China’s efforts to clean up its roads – and its air – have become increasingly serious over the last few months and now an executive at one of the country’s largest automakers has revealed that the country plans to have 10 million EV-ready parking spaces in just over eight years.
“The government is working on a plan – and I think it will be announced very, very soon – and is basically calling for having, in 10 years, electric car parks of 10 million [spots] or above,” Wang Dazong, president of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC), said at a conference this week in Detroit.
China’s industry has decided to shift gears to focus on EVs, not hybrids or even hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, signaling a change in direction that will undoubtedly have global ramifications. The Chinese market has become the world’s largest and, while growth is expected to be less robust in 2011 than it was in a heavily-subsidized 2010, the market will undoubtedly continue to increase in size and scope.
Because of the anticipated increase in demand for electricity, China is also reshaping the way it produces energy. The country says it is rapidly cutting back on its use of coal and is instead leveraging hydropower, wind, gas and nuclear power.
Government-backed incentives have pushed down the price of EVs in China by as much as $18,000 in some of the largest cities, effectively making them default purchases for many shoppers.
BAIC expects EVs to make up about 5 percent of its own market by 2020, an estimate considered conservative by many analysts.
References
1.’China readies 10…’ view
