China is racing ahead in the global auto industry's campaign to go electric. The country, now the world's biggest auto market, is getting serious in the clean-energy car race with big investment and government stimulus.
Among the new catalogue of auto makers and products issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is an additional 19 new electric vehicles produced by 8 firms. They have been included in the models in the country's new energy vehicles promotion project.
Wan Gang, Minister of Technology said "More enterprises list clean-energy electric vehicles as their development goal. This is a massive trend. Common sense has been reached and transformation has started."
The technology minister says China is the world's largest electric vehicle producer and market. The industry has developed and a market has been nurtured.
Wan Gang said "We can make breakthroughs in large and mid-sized buses and small passenger cars, and gradually push forward the industrialization of electric autos."
Look for the boom in electric cars in China to continue as the government adds tax breaks and pushes bus,taxi companies and government fleets to go electric. The Beijing Municipal government announced in late August it will add nearly one thousand electric buses in public service by the end of this year.
(CCTV September 7, 2009)
