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New energy vehicle just a fancy term

By Nie Peng (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-17 16:04

How many of the so-called "new energy vehicles" on China's roads are truly low carbon emission? The answer is: none.

Li Junfeng, deputy director general of the Energy Research Institute under the China Development and Reform Commission, said in a forum on low carbon development held over the weekend that all new energy vehicles, either powered by fuel cells, bio-gas or battery packs, are not able to meet the low carbon standard with the current technology, according to China Business News.

"We must seek new technology to roll out low carbon vehicles," Li said.

Li Shengmao, a new energy industry researcher, warned that some enterprises could take advantage of China's new energy vehicle policy to fish for subsidies if the subsidy policy is not accompanied by strict market entry regulations.

In January 2009, the government announced measures to support the development of new energy vehicles. Before that, only BYD had announced entry into the electric car segment, but has yet to debut its first pure electric car on the market. Back then, Toyota's hybrid Prius represented the most advanced new energy automobile technology in China.

However, almost overnight after the government said it would boost the sector, it became a vogue for domestic carmakers researching on pure electric vehicles, the report said, adding that more than 40 carmakers claimed that they had already mastered the technology to make pure electric cars, far outnumbering both Japan and the United States.

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Last year alone, more than 20 Chinese carmakers claimed that their research and development of pure electric cars was a success. That figure outnumbered Japan, the first country in the world to research into the field, the paper said.

According to the report, a senior executive of a private carmaker said that a research team of 30 technicians spent just two months to bring forth the company's first so-called "pure electric car" through resembling parts bought from other companies. And the total cost, less than 5 million yuan ($730,000).

Chen Quanshi, deputy head of the Key State Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, told the paper: "We're only on the eve of developing new energy vehicles, but most of the technological conditions remain absent." Chen took charge of a key national research project on electric automobile technology in 1991.

China aims to have more than 500,000 pure electric vehicles on its roads by 2015, with hybrids accounting for more than 30 percent of the country's automobile output, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The country also hopes to cut gasoline consumption of an average new car by 30 percent from its current levels.

China is likely to release the details promoting new energy vehicles later this month, the paper said.