Chinese car manufacturers have become quite popular thanks to their high quality, low price and variety. In this special news, we take a closer look at China's rise to the top of the electric vehicle market.
China's electric vehicle production and use is one of the biggest success stories in global markets.
Between 2021 and 2022, electric vehicle sales in China increased from 1.3 million to 6.8 million, accounting for more than a third of global electric car sales in 2022.
China is the world's single largest carbon emitter, producing 33 percent of the world's total in 2021. Transportation accounts for about 10 percent of China's emissions.
The Chinese government has set a goal of peaking its emissions by 2030, and recent reports suggest that they could reach that goal even sooner.
As part of its plan, 40 percent of vehicles on the road will be electric cars alone by the same date.
As of June 2022, there were 312 million civilian vehicles, of which battery electric vehicles accounted for about 3.2%.
China’s electric vehicle sector has gained momentum thanks to years of government subsidies, tax breaks, significant interventions to develop technology and infrastructure, and policies to encourage buyers, such as free license plates.
The government has the authoritarian power to impose significant policies and market interventions to reduce emissions and meet renewable energy targets.
In 2001, the Chinese government called for research into electric vehicle technology in its five-year plan, which set the agenda.
From that year, the Chinese aimed for electric vehicle sales to account for 45% of total sales by 2027.
Between 2009 and 2022, billions of yuan in subsidies and tax breaks were injected into the market, and infrastructure was improved in Chinese cities.
Changan, a Chongqing-based automaker, has a large factory in the same area that houses its global R&D center.
State-owned Changan was founded in 1862 and is currently involved in joint ventures with Mazda and Ford.
Changan is now China’s eighth-largest electric vehicle maker, with showrooms full of compact cars, luxury-branded sports cars, large hybrid SUVs powered by CATL batteries and Huawei technology.
The company plans to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2025 to focus solely on electric and hybrid cars.
In China, the marketing of electric vehicles has focused little on environmental benefits. Instead, citizens say cost is the number one factor in their decision to go electric.
Rui Rui, a 32-year-old financial worker in Shanghai, said he saved about 10,650 euros in license plate fees alone by buying an electric vehicle.
The actual level of environmental benefits from electric cars is still somewhat debatable.
Studies show that the environmental impact of EV production is worse than that of conventional cars, but over time the emissions savings make up for this.
A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature looked at the impact of EVs on air quality in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The study found reductions in air quality indexes (which measure pollutants) in areas where EV travel increased.
The study, by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Beijing Institute of Technology, found “a significant carbon reduction effect when battery-electric vehicles replace fuel-powered vehicles for equivalent kilometers.”
However, Beijing and Shanghai, where electricity generation is still largely coal-fired, experienced increases in nitrogen dioxide concentrations, potentially linked to the EVs’ electricity consumption.
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