By Shen Hengchao, Department of Techno-Economic Research, the DRC

Research Report No 77, 2014

When the United States is considering passing laws on technology for electric vehicles, it gets the country's top institutions, the Congress, various departments, and enterprises involved, and, with the government and the market having a clear division of responsibilities.

The country does regular assessments of the policy after implementation, and can adjust it and make annual budget accordingly. The government's role is in funding and facilitating research on technology, pushing technology development and supporting technology breakthroughs in strategic areas. Enterprises are mainly responsible for product R&D, commercialization, and marketing.

What the policy-making and implementation in relation to US electric vehicle technology shows us is that the key policy is assisted and pushed by top institutions, but the market also plays its role. In addition, policies have to be assessed and altered in a regular way, and the policies that fail to produce results need to be eliminated.