BYD's hybrid F3DM car sells for about 140,000 yuan ($22,047), almost 100,000 yuan ($15,748) higher than its F3 model, an identical car with an internal combustion engine instead of the hybrid power source. Chery's M1 fuel auto costs 50,000 yuan ($7,874), while its EV version M1EV was 140,000-230,000 yuan ($22,047-$35,384).

In an effort to promote the use of electric cars, Beijing has issued a policy that the purchase of battery EVs will not be limited, and owners will not have to go through the license plate lottery. Aside from not having purchase limits, owners of EVs will each enjoy a maximum subsidy of 120,000 yuan ($18,800).

Despite the fact that Beijing gave the green light to EVs, Li was still unwilling to open his wallet to EVs.

"The high price makes consumers lose interest," said Yan Jinghui, Vice General Manager of Yayuncun Automobile Trade Market in Beijing.

Even if car buyers were willing to pay for EVs, they find that there are no pure electric cars for household use available in the market and the market share for plug-in hybrid EVs is less than 10 percent, Yan said.

The dearth of pure EVs will make after-sale services less accessible and cost more, he said.

Charging stations remain a major bump in the road for the EVs to reach their full potential. Since most battery EVs can only run around 150 km on a single charge, a large number of public charging stations are needed. Today, these stations are no more than demonstrations projects.

The Shanghai Municipal Government and the State Grid planned to build 360 charging posts in the city by the end of 2010. Only 50 were finished.

Shenzhen has been a clear policy leader in EV in China. It is aggressively promoting charging infrastructure: more than 2,000 charging poles have been built in residential communities, but people still say more are needed.

Breakthrough promise

In China, EVs have become an essential part of local governments' efforts to build an environmentally friendly society. Almost all major cities have EV projects. Shanghai aims to have more than 10,000 EVs by 2012. The EV infrastructure will increase to 13,000 charging poles, 15 charging stations next year.

The Shanghai Municipal Government said it would provide subsidies for investment in EV charging facilities. At the same time, more demonstration centers will be built for residents to learn about and test drive EVs.

In June 2011, Shenzhen announced its top-up subsidies for new energy vehicle purchases as part of a broader national program to encourage fuel-efficiency. In addition to the Central Government's subsidy, Shenzhen decided to provide additional subsidies for the city's individual buyer of each new energy vehicle. It will also provide subsidies for the construction of supporting facilities for EVs.

Shenzhen also decided to build charging stations in the parking lots of residential communities, big department stores and hotels.

The long-awaited national standard to be released will also provide rules to follow for the construction of the EV recharging station, which will provide investment opportunities for social capital.

The State Grid Corp of China planned to construct 75 charging stations and 6,209 charging poles for EVs across 27 provinces by 2015. State Grid also intended to spend 32 billion yuan ($5.04 billion) to build 10,000 charging stations in the second five years of this decade.

The traditional energy tycoons, such as Sinopec and PetroChina, also showed interests in EVs. Their thousands of gas stations, when equipped with charging devices, will also serve electric car owners.

EV makers are doing their share by technical innovation. They are trying to make batteries that hold longer charges and charging facilities with the utmost charging capacity within minimum of time.

BYD said they are working on a new type battery that could support 500-km range on a single charge.

"One day if charging stations are as easily found as gas stations and batteries can be charged to their full capacity within 30 minutes, more people will choose EVs," Li Ru said.