www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/business/global/02electric.html?ref=global


China Vies to Be Worlds Leader in Electric Cars

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By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: April 1, 2009

TIANJIN, China Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.

The goal, which radiates from the very top of the Chinese government, suggests that Detroits Big Three, already struggling to stay alive, will face even stiffer foreign competition on the next field of automotive technology than they do today.

China is well positioned to lead in this, said David Tulauskas, director of China government policy at General Motors.

To some extent, China is making a virtue of a liability. It is behind the United States, Japan and other countries when it comes to making gas-powered vehicles, but by skipping the current technology, China hopes to get a jump on the next.

Japan is the market leader in hybrids today, which run on both electricity and gasoline, with cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. The United States has been a laggard in alternative vehicles. G.M.s plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt is scheduled to go on sale next year, and will be assembled in Michigan using rechargeable batteries imported from LG in South Korea.

Chinas intention, in addition to creating a world-leading industry that will produce jobs and exports, is to reduce urban pollution and decrease its dependence on oil, which comes from the Mideast and travels over sea routes controlled by the United States Navy.

But electric vehicles may do little to clear the countrys smog-darkened sky or curb its rapidly rising emissions of global warming gases. China gets three-fourths of its electricity from coal, which produces more soot and more greenhouse gases than other fuels.

A report by McKinsey & Company last autumn estimated that replacing a gasoline-powered car with a similar-size electric car in China would reduce greenhouse emissions by only 19 percent. It would reduce urban pollution, however, by shifting the source of smog from car exhaust pipes to power plants, which are often located outside cities.

Beyond manufacturing, subsidies of up to $8,800 are being offered to taxi fleets and local government agencies in 13 Chinese cities for each hybrid or all-electric vehicle they purchase. The state electricity grid has been ordered to set up electric car charging stations in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

Government research subsidies for electric car designs are increasing rapidly. And an interagency panel is planning tax credits for consumers who buy alternative energy vehicles.

China wants to raise its annual production capacity to 500,000 hybrid or all-electric cars and buses by the end of 2011, from 2,100 last year, government officials and Chinese auto executives said. By comparison, CSM Worldwide, a consulting firm that does forecasts for automakers, predicts that Japan and South Korea together will be producing 1.1 million hybrid or all-electric light vehicles by then and North America will be making 267,000.

The United States Department of Energy has its own $25 billion program to develop electric-powered cars and improve battery technology, and will receive another $2 billion for battery development as part of the economic stimulus program enacted by Congress.

Premier Wen Jiabao highlighted the importance of electric cars two years ago with his unlikely choice to become minister of science and technology: Wan Gang, a Shanghai-born former Audi auto engineer in Germany who later became the chief scientist for the Chinese governments research panel on electric vehicles.

Mr. Wan is the first minister in at least three decades who is not a member of the Communist Party.

And Premier Wen has his own connection to the electric car industry. He was born and grew up here in Tianjin, the longtime capital of Chinas battery industry, 70 miles southeast of Beijing.

Tianjin has thrived in the six years since Mr. Wen became premier. It now has Chinas first bullet train service (to Beijing), a new Airbus factory and an immaculate new airport. Tianjin has also received a surge of research subsidies for enterprises like the Tianjin-Qingyuan Electric Vehicle Company.

Electric cars have several practical advantages in China. Intercity driving is rare. Commutes are fairly short and frequently at low speeds because of traffic jams. So the limitations of all-electric cars the latest models in China have a top speed of 60 miles an hour and a range of 120 miles between charges are less of a problem.

First-time car buyers also make up four-fifths of the Chinese market, and these buyers have not yet grown accustomed to the greater power and range of gasoline-powered cars.

But the electric car industry faces several obstacles here too. Most urban Chinese live in apartments, and cannot install recharging devices in driveways, so more public charging centers need to be set up.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries also have a poor reputation in China. Counterfeit lithium-ion batteries in cellphones occasionally explode, causing injuries. And Sony had to recall genuine lithium-ion batteries in laptops in 2006 and 2008 after some overheated and caught fire or exploded.

These safety problems have been associated with lithium-ion cobalt batteries, however, not the more chemically stable lithium-ion phosphate batteries now being adapted to automotive use.

The tougher challenge is that all lithium-ion batteries are expensive, whether made with cobalt or phosphate. That will be a hurdle for thrifty Chinese consumers, especially if gas prices stay relatively low compared to their highs last summer.

China is tackling the challenges with the same tools that helped it speed industrialization and put on the Olympics: immense amounts of energy, money and people.

BYD has 5,000 auto engineers and an equal number of battery engineers, most of them living at its headquarters in Shenzhen in a cluster of 15 yellow apartment buildings, each 18 stories high. Young engineers earn less than $600 a month, including benefits.

When Tianjin-Qingyuan puts its entirely battery-powered Saibao midsize sedan on sale this autumn, the body will come from a sedan that normally sells for $14,600 when equipped with a gasoline engine. But the engine and gas tank will be replaced with a $14,000 battery pack and electric motor, said Wu Zhixin, the companys general manager.

That means the retail price will nearly double, to almost $30,000. Even if the government awards the maximum subsidy of $8,800 to buyers, that is a hefty premium.

Large-scale production could drive down the cost of the battery pack and electric motor by 30 or 40 percent, still leaving electric cars more expensive than gasoline-powered ones, Mr. Wu said.

But Mr. Wu has plenty of money to pursue improvements. He interrupted an interview at his companys headquarters on Thursday to take a call on his cellphone, politely declined an offer from the caller, and hung up.

The general manager of a state-controlled bank had called to ask if he needed a loan, he explained.

China has huge hydro power potential, that will be good source for these new cars. A lot of huge hydro power dams are planned in China. And the new electricity transport system will make the electricity from the dams available nationwide.

BYD E6 pure electric






Chery S18 pure electric



ChangFeng CS7 hybrid



ChangAn hybrid


BYD F3 DM (dual mode)

China has a major dependence on coal... Those electric vehicles will only amount to picking a different poison since you need clean energy production combined with electric cars. One out of two will not do.

one out of two is better than zero out of two. they should mandate that their citizens only drive hybrid & electric vehicles. use your totalitarian power for the good of the planet!

Americans on average produce MANY times more green house gases than an average Chinese citizen, how about you guys start buying some hybrids. We have 1.3 billion people and we only marginally out pollute America as a whole.


Whoever said winning isn't everything must be a loser...

"one out of two is better than zero out of two. they should mandate that their citizens only drive hybrid & electric vehicles. use your totalitarian power for the good of the planet!"

why we need to do this for the planet? we just do what is good to us. you americans better stop driving suv/pickup first.

the reason you don't pollute as much is that most of your people are uneducated peasants who can't afford vehicles. americans aren't going to buy new cars when we already have perfectly running gas cars. when it comes time to replace then maybe. china obviously has more NEW buyers so they can have a bigger impact. this of course is too difficult for you to understand.

"the reason you don't pollute as much is that most of your people are uneducated peasants who can't afford vehicles. americans aren't going to buy new cars when we already have perfectly running gas cars. when it comes time to replace then maybe. china obviously has more NEW buyers so they can have a bigger impact. this of course is too difficult for you to understand."

who has the largest new car market on the world?who has the largest new SUV/VAN/Pickup market right now?

agreeds that amerikunts must takings responsiblity and bearings the brunts of new decisions rather than tryings imposings it one our good chinegooks friends of great flying martial arts karate chopstick ninja shark fin eatings with kimchi and tai qi pratice methods

sayonara


===========================================
I am old Christiankiller
Sorry for offensive to our good religion christian brothers
I am not hating christians

China's centrally-planned economy is the real solution for rapid industrialization; Japan and South Korea did that and look how good they are now. Chinese government plans something and hugely supports the industry to achieve their goals. That is a very good thing.

Maybe as more nuclear plants go online in the future in China, dependence on coal plants will hopefully reduce. Also the same with hydropower and other green sources such as wind, solar, geothermal etc.

test

>>agreeds that amerikunts must takings responsiblity and bearings the brunts of new decisions rather than tryings imposings it one our good chinegooks friends of great flying martial arts karate chopstick ninja shark fin eatings with kimchi and tai qi pratice methods

//

lol. oic, the writing style is definitely from the ole dragon aka kiddykwak, eh lol.

eg. lots of extra "s", and this one: "must takings",
thats how kiddy/dragon would write then. haha.