China Government considering big investment to boost electric vehicle uptake
Thu 28 August 2014
View all news
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), China is considering committing as much as US$16 billion in funding for electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities in a bid to boost demand for EVs. The Chinese Government has adopted a number of recent initiatives designed to boost EV uptake.
Among recent government initiatives, China will exempt EV’s, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles from a purchase tax as of next month, and has instructed Government departments to buy clean vehicles for their fleets.
According to the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, the Government is also considering allowing non-auto manufacturers to manufacture EV’s to boost competition.
China’s central government set a target in July that EVs should make up 30 per cent of government vehicle purchases by 2016.
While sales of electric vehicles in China have lagged behind government targets, BYD, the electric automaker which is partly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, earlier this month cited encouraging government policies for helping the company’s EV sales to increase six fold during the first half of 2014.
Related Links
< Back to news list