E-CAR CATCHES EYEBALL: Visitors are watching an E-CAR CATCHES EYEBALL: Visitors watch an electric-car at the Second China (Wuxi) Renewable Energy Conference and Solar Power Exhibition on September 17, 2010 (PAN ZHENGGUANG)

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is drafting a 10-year plan from 2011 to 2020 for the development of energy-efficient and new energy cars.

Chen Quanshi, Director of the Automobile Research Institute of Tsinghua University, said China will become the biggest producer and consumer of these types of cars in the world during the next 10 years.

The electric car (e-car) would be a major strategic transition for China's automobile industry. "China will eventually industrialize the hybrid and electric cars in the future," Chen said.

The Chinese Government is working on promoting the development of e-cars and is investing 3 billion yuan ($447.5 million) in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, to build the country's biggest e-car manufacturing base. The project is expected to be finished by 2012.

On August 18, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council encouraged 16 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under Central Government administration to form a central SOE coalition for e-car development.

The 16 SOEs cover the whole industrial chain from vehicle manufacturing to motor and battery production.

Central SOEs such as the State Grid Corp., China Southern Power Grid Corp. Ltd., China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. have started building terminals for e-car recharging. The State Grid Corp. says it will build 75 recharging stations and 6,209 recharging hubs. The company also plans to build 1,700 public recharging stations and 3 million alternating current terminals.

"By 2020, sales of e-cars and hybrid vehicles will have exceeded 5 million units," said Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology, said on September 4 when attending the 2010 International Forum on Chinese Automobile Industry Development in Tianjin Municipality.

The next five years

Wan said to coordinate with the development of energy-efficient and new energy automobile industry, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is working on a five-year special plan for electric car development. The draft plan has been completed, focusing on how to increase investment in e-car technology development to promote and support the new vehicles' research and development. China should make full use of the next five to 10 years to become a power in developing energy-efficient and new energy automobiles, he said.

The major tasks for the next five years are to make breakthroughs in safe, durable and low-cost batteries, and develop urban buses and small electric vehicles with high comfort and reliability levels to meet the market demand. Within present infrastructure and industrial scale, the government will promote the use of high-performance e-cars with their prices well received by the market.

MOST will also speed up construction of e-car infrastructure such as recharging stations. To do this it will support efficiently the application and industrialization of complete sets of technology and equipment for e-car recharging and conversion.

Wan said during the process of establishing and improving an e-car standardization system, MOST will join with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration to set up a standardization system in accordance with the characteristics of domestically innovated products and technology. In the meantime, MOST will participate in global endeavors in setting e-car standards, and cooperating and communicating with developed countries such as the United States and Germany regarding e-car standards and technology development.

The next five years will be a critical period for the Chinese e-car industry as it will transform from laboratory research to large-scale production.

Presently

Liu Min, Deputy Director General of the Department of Development Planning of MOST, said in the past decade the Central Government has invested more than 2 billion yuan ($298.4 million) in e-car related projects, arranged more than 500 scientific research projects, and organized joint research groups among large industrial companies, research institutes and higher-learning institutions. To date, China has formed a research and development platform for e-car engine systems of domestic innovation.

Technology research and development systems for vital spare parts have also been established, and some automakers are now capable of producing e-cars on a small scale and building up standardized business operations for them. China has drawn up 38 e-car related standards, and is now able to test, evaluate and certify e-cars, storage batteries and motors.

Since 2003, seven cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan and Shenzhen, as well as the State Grid Corp., started promoting electric and hybrid cars. In 2008, the organizing committee of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games put 595 domestically developed hybrid and electric cars on the roads. Currently, more than 1,100 e-cars are in service in the World Expo site in Shanghai.