China's EV industry leaps forward

Editor's Note: Electric vehicles (EV) have frequently been launched by Chinese private automakers, state-owned-enterprises, and joint ventures.

The country has been supporting the industry for years with favorable policies, including subsidies to automakers and buyers, but the price of the cars was still much higher than traditional gasoline vehicles.

This year, some cities are also giving out subsidies, making the cars more palatable to buyers. In July, for the first time in China, an EV was sold to an individual, and for the first time EVs went beyond governments' taxi procurements.

China's 1st EV sold to individual

Little-known carmaker Zotye Auto became the first Chinese company to sell a purely electric car to an individual buyer. Li Ziqiang, a Hangzhou resident, bought the 5008EV from the Zhejiang-based private manufacturer on July 26. [Full story]

GM unveils Chevy EV at the Expo

General Motor revealed its electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, in Shanghai on Aug 31. It will serve the World Expo as VIP transportation. The Volt, set to launch on the mainland in 2011, is powered by built-in lithium-ion batteries. [Full story]

China may give electric cars, hybrids $15b jump start

China may invest more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in alternative-energy vehicles during the next 10 years to boost the industry. The spending is included in a draft plan for 2011 to 2020 that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology may submit this month to the State Council for approval. [Full story]

Shanghai to submit alternative energy vehicles subsidy plan

Shanghai will submit a plan to subsidize alternative-energy vehicles this week. The subsidy plan may be approved and implemented as early as September. [Full story]

Daimler, BYD in partnership

Daimler AG says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's BYD Co, the Chinese carmaker backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, to develop jointly electric vehicles for the fast-growing Chinese market. [Full story]

Allied to drive promotion

An alliance of sixteen of the largest State-owned companies wants to accelerate development of electric vehicles in China, a move which underscores the country's ambition to be a world leader in new energy vehicles. [Full story]

China mulls EV battery standards

China is reviewing three national standards for electric vehicle power batteries,a Chinese researcher said Wednesday at a forum in Beijing.The three standards submitted pertain to the conductive charge coupler, communication protocols, and specification and dimension. [Full story]

Charging guides for electric cars to be issued

China will issue three standards in October to regulate charging facilities for electric cars, said a source from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. [Full story]

Electric car recharging station opens in E China Anhui

The 4,800-square-meter recharging station opened on June 1. It is equipped with 10 alternating current rechargers and 10 direct current rechargers. [Photos]

China opens its largest EV recharging station in E China Shandong

China's largest recharging station, which can handle 45 electric vehicles, opened Wednesday in Linyi city in Shandong province. [Full story]

Shanghai to build 400 EV charging stations

The Shanghai government will build 400 charging stations for electric vehicles this year. The city government will add SAIC Motor Corp's hybrid vehicles, Roewe 750, to its purchase list in a bid to raise awareness of alternative-energy vehicles. [Full story]

New paradigm for new energy vehicles

China wants to have up to 20 million clean and fuel-efficient new energy vehicles on the road by 2020, reported in the local media. If realized, the goal would mean 10 percent of the nearly 200 million light vehicles forecast to be owned and operated in China would be powered by so-called alternative energy. [Full story]

China accelerates electric vehicle dream

China's electric vehicle market is in pole position to become the first nation in the world to realize the EV era, said Tony Chen, China Regional Manager with SUD-Chemie. [Full story]

Green-car coalition

The establishment of a national team to promote electric cars is of great significance to China's ambition to make the leap from being the world's biggest auto market to its greenest one. Yet, for such a coalition to work its magic on accelerating the commercialization of electric vehicles, it must be as open as possible to facilitate sector-wide changes to go green. [Full story]