As 2017 drew to an end, we got news on China’s electric vehicle subsidies for 2018. Major changes lie ahead. Firstly, the new subsidy policy is designed to encourage higher range and lower energy consumption in electric vehicles, while removing and decreasing subsidies to lower ranged models. Additionally, a key policy change is that regional subsidies are coming to an end in China.
We’ve published a couple of articles recently on Shenzhen’s dramatic electrification of over 16,000 buses — something completely unprecedented around the world. But to say this is an isolated case of Chinese electric bus leadership would be to miss the much bigger and broader story. Below is a roundup of electric bus stories from China from November and December. The full article on EV Obsession covers the whole year, January–December of 2017, in this way. Check it all out if you want to really be blow away or want to turn your brain into a mesh of electric bus stories and statements. —Zach
On November the 2nd of 2017, the updated version of China’s first electric airplane had its maiden flight. It is a two-seat electric trainer aircraft — similar to the Pipistrel electric aircraft plus other industry efforts to develop electric aircraft or hybrid aircraft and the required components and subsystems.
Electric buses are a fun topic. They offer smoother, quieter, cleaner transport that leaves passengers, drivers, and everyone nearby feeling better. We get excited about electric bus orders that for 4 buses, and we get really excited about orders for a couple of dozen electric buses. Hundreds? Come on, don’t be crazy! But enter into China and there’s a vast difference regarding what’s “possible” and what’s happening. We already published one story on this news, but this EV Obsession piece from Tim Dixon offers more context regarding one of the biggest electric mobility stories of the past year (or decade), so we had to share. Enjoy! Also, Tim’s first baby is on the way, so wish him some good wishes during this momentous month
China might be the world’s biggest polluter but perhaps no other country has done more to clean up its act and step up to its cleantech international stewardship in the past several years. But all of this comes at a price. Often times, it means reprehending its own businesses to avoid global scandals.
2017 was a strange year, with plenty to celebrate and plenty to ponder about. The wild ups and downs most of us have gone through, both personally and professionally, were reflected in the industries we cover as well. So let’s take a look at what surprised us, what shows the most potential, and what was simply strange.
Things are not looking any better for electric vehicle (EV) maker Faraday Future (FF) now that its CEO and co-founder, also LeEco’s Founder, defied an order from Chinese authorities to come back and explain himself for his lack of financial performance. Jia Yueting was once portrayed as a rising Chinese star (and billionaire) potentially following in the footsteps of Elon Musk.
China is the largest emitter of CO2. It has also firmly cemented itself as a global leader in clean technologies. Sooner or later, we will see Chinese electric cars sold globally, and Chinese solar cells and solar panels already dominate global sales. In early editions of CHINA X Cleantech, we’ll spend some time figuring out who’s who and what does what.
The city of Shenzen, China has the largest fleet of electric buses in the world –more than 16,000. It has installed 300 bus chargers and 8,000 EV chargers built in to street light poles.
Owing to a failure to meet government-set fuel consumption standards, authorities in a China are shutting down the production of 553 passenger vehicle models as of January 1st, 2018, the state news agency Xinhua has revealed.
