Business innovation also key to e-car development

In addition to technical breakthroughs, innovation in the business model can play a major role in developing the new-energy vehicle industry in China, according to a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCooper China.

"While automakers are making tremendous efforts to develop their technological expertise to remove adoption barriers, a growing level of collaboration efforts are expected between automakers, suppliers and other innovative companies to maximize their collective knowledge and resources," said PwC China Auto lead partner Wilson Liu, citing the examples of BMW's electric car rental program as well as new technologies like wireless vehicle charging.

Liu said he expects to see automakers revise their traditional approach and make further collaborative efforts to define industry standards as problems with air pollution and energy consumption push both government and industry leaders to move faster and further.