Electric Vehicles Are Charging Up China’s Automotive Markets Nationwide

China, one of the world’s leading car markets, is steadily moving towards electric vehicles (EV) and will continually do so, with the recent auto show in Shanghai being a prime example.

A recent study made by the China Passenger Car Association has found that, one in every five new cars sold in the country were either electric or hybrid vehicles.

In addition, the study also identified that on average, most of the EVs being sold were coming from the six biggest cities in China.

According to the secretary general of the car trade body Cui Dongshu, around 31% of cars sold in the country’s financial core run on alternative energy, up from 6% in 2016. Consequently, in some of the main cities, for instance Shanghai, the figure is even higher.

On that note, the study has also shown the statistics of EV penetration calculated from its accumulative car sales, in which for Beijing it stands at 16 percent, Guangzhou at 13 percent, Shenzhen at 25 percent, Hangzhou at 21 percent and Tianjin at 12 percent.

Alternatively, these numbers are much higher than the total EVs being sold nationwide, which is standing at a value of 8 percent.

Moreover, building further on the study, the consumers in developed cities on the Chinese east coast have already set their preferences on EVs.

This is mainly due to consumer-friendly policies by the local government which includes easy accessibility to license plates.

However, unlike their inland neighbours, consumers over there are not tilting towards the EV lifestyle as much.

As stated by Dongshu, this favourable policy may not run for the longest time, due to rising traffic jams and higher overall electric vehicle penetration.

An instance of this, Shanghai may start its restrictions on license plate issuance for some small EVs such as for the SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co.’s, Hongguang Mini EV.

Equally important, the study also states that cars shorter than 4.6 meters and costs under 100,000 yuan (RM 64,048), will not be given any advantages such as the issuing of free plates.

Besides that, the secretary general also added that the overall sales of electric vehicles may not be impacted whether these new regulations come into play or not.

Overall, contributing to further this huge EV advancement in China is their tech giant Baidu, which recently have started its paid driverless taxi service in Beijing. In turn making the company the first to commercialise autonomous driving technology.