Electric cars will be at the core of China’s new-energy vehicle development strategy, plotting a high-tech automotive future for the nation, a Ministry of Science and Technology official confirmed on Wednesday.
“As all nations are (squeezed) by growing energy and environmental (challenges), promoting electric cars is a reasonable path to realizing sustainable growth,” said deputy director-general Zhang Zhihong of the High and New Technology Development and Industrialization Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
He made the comments on Wednesday at the 2011 International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers China Forum held in Shanghai.
The State Council has accepted a draft development plan for the new-energy vehicle industry that looks to make the nation a leader in the sector with a 100 billion yuan ($15.28 billion) government fund, half of it will go to research and development over the next decade.
China aims to build up a strong and competitive new-energy vehicle industry chain with a production capacity of 1 million new-energy vehicles, among which pure-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounting for 50 percent over the next five years, according to the plan.
Electric cars at the Shanghai auto show are a glimpse of international automakers’ expanding electrified portfolios, with BMW launching a Concept5 series hybrid, Audi debuting the A3 E-tron plug-in hybrid and Ford touting the Asian debut of three electrified vehicles Tuesday.
BYD Corp is developing its own electric car brand, and is testing the F3DM hybrid in Los Angeles with hopes of starting US sales of its K9 electric bus in 2012.
Domestic automakers are often dependent on global producers passing on valuable technologies to help local partners create indigenous brands.
German automaker Daimler AG, maker of Mercedes Benz cars, is creating a new electric car brand with BYD Corp and plans to launch its first model in 2013.
“We want to make full use of the official incentives over worries of further curbs on production or imports,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told the Global Times on Wednesday.
J.D. Power’s conservatively estimates that electric vehicles will only account for 3 percent of global vehicle sales by the year 2015.
Chen Qingquan, chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association has forecast that China will have an estimated 15 percent market share of hybrid and all-electric vehicle domestic sales by 2020.
