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| Commercialising China's Electric Vehicles |
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China's electric vehicle industry has gained significant improvements in recent years. But industry experts pointed out that there were still a lot of work to be done before commercialising the products, such as key parts technologies, industry standard setting and battery recharge facilities.
Breaking technological bottlenecks
Battery technologies for electric vehicles have gained substantial progress in China in recent years, especially improved power and safety of nickel-hydrogen batteries and lithium-ion batteries. However, there are still apparent problems in areas such as vehicle-purpose battery performance, mass production capacity and cost control.
According to Mr Chen Quanshi, a senior director of China Automobile Engineering Society, vehicle battery can be divided into three categories: hybrid power, pure electric and fuel cells. Evolution in vehicle power will depend on breakthroughs in battery technologies, so in order to commercialise electric vehicles, the battery bottleneck needs to be solved first. Therefore, it is imperative for large automobile companies in China to participate in electric vehicle developments, and the government should also provide relevant supports to promote key technologies in the industry. |
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At the same time, we should improve our understanding and perception of lead-acid batteries, which can be utilised on electric vehicles on a commercial scale. A leading electric bike expert of China, Mr Ma Guilong, said that not all lead-acid battery products are outdated, backward and environmentally unfriendly. To the opposite, after many years' development, lead-acid battery technologies and manufacturing techniques are now relatively sophisticated. Pollution from their production process can now be properly controlled by advanced technologies, and the use of lead-acid batteries doesn't cause emission, either. Furthermore, lead-acid batteries can now be fully recycled with little pollution.
Ma suggested that lead-acid battery may not be suitable for small electric cars due to their heavy weights, but very suitable for small and medium vans which don't require high-speed movement. lead-acid battery-driven vehicles can not only reduce urban pollution, but also improve the commercialisation of electric vans.
Formulation of industry standards
China produced 8.8 million new vehicles in 2007, making the country's total vehicle number above 50 million units. It is expected that China will become the world's largest vehicle manufacturer by 2020.
The growing number of vehicles is also causing problems in China, such as increased energy wastage, heightened air pollution, so vehicle manufacturers are now looking to develop energy-efficient and new energy vehicles to reduce or even avoid using fossil fuels. Among the new energy vehicles, electric vehicles are currently the most competitive one, due to their high efficiency, non-reliance on burning fuels and nil emission.
On the other hand, although many companies are investing in research and development of electric vehicles, China is still yet to have a standard for electric vehicles. Mr Chen considered that establishing a dedicated standard for electric vehicles would be the foundation of their commercialisation.
Other experts also pointed out that electric vehicle standards could not simply copy standards from traditional vehicles. Standard-setters should set a lower entry threshold for the electric vehicle industry, in order to encourage companies to participate. The government should allow any companies to produce and sell electric vehicles, as long as they can develop qualified products.
Recharging stations
Due to the limited number of battery recharging stations, most demo electric vehicles in China can now only be run on dedicated routes, such as public transport routes, tourism attractions and internal routes of vehicle companies. But in overseas countries, the most important consideration when it comes to promoting electric vehicles is the establishment of supportive infrastructure, such as battery recharging stations.
Mr Chen pointed out that battery recharging facilities are the basis for running electric vehicles on road. So in order to commercialise electric vehicles in China, there must be a have number of public recharging stations, dedicated power cables and sockets for vehicle users. Without such infrastructure for the public, electric vehicles will be useless to consumers, no matter how advanced their technologies are.
Produced by China Business Intelligence; Source: www.sina.com.cn
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