China's Electric Car Capital Has Lessons for Rest of the World
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China’s electric car capital has lessons for rest of the world BLOOMBERG miles). The pint-sized two-seater — about half the 27 June SLOW TAKE-UP ELECTRIC TOWNlength of a Tesla Model X and similar in EV sales still lag well behind fossil-fuelled cars EV-ownership in Liuzhou is the appearance to the Smart car — comes with a One of the first things visitors to the southern around the world in % highest in China in % similarly small price tag of around $5,000. That Chinese city of Liuzhou notice is the quiet. not only helps lower the bar for ownership, but 14.0 Missing is the incessant noise of throbbing Liuzhou 11.0 reduces running costs such as insurance. engines and clashing gears that provides the 11.0 11.0 In a further incentive, drivers could earn cash backdrop to daily life in most metropolises Beijing 6.0 rewards of up to 1,000 yuan ($160) a year for around the globe. driving up to 10,000 kilometers. Hua Yong, an The reason: almost 30 per cent of the cars sold Shenzhen 5.1 official in charge of EV promotion at the NDRC, in Liuzhou last year were electric, according to 6.0 said he made 500 yuan the first year he had his EV WAYS Information Technology, a Guangzhou- 4.0 4.0 Hangzhou 4.5 and 400 yuan the next, while Gou says he got the based consulting firm, more than five times maximum reward every year. China’s average — making the city of 4 million the 2.0 Shanghai 4.0 The mini cars — which are everywhere in 1.0 effective capital of the biggest EV market in the 0.2 Liuzhou — also allowed the government to China avg. 1.8 world. Globally, it trails only Oslo for electric- Germany France UK China Global S Korea US Japan India create 15,000 additional parking spots around vehicle penetration. Not only that, but Liuzhou’s Source: WAYS Information Technology the city. Their size meant they could fit on air and water quality is among the best in a nation Note: Passenger EV sales in selected markets Source: BNEF, Marklines previously unusable tracts of land, such as the synonymous with choking pollution. sidewalk verge. This green dividend is an unexpected bonus of It’s an approach that may provide a blueprint for just under 4.5 per cent of global passenger residents to EVs. SAIC-GM-Wuling, a joint venture That’s what appealed to 30-year-old bank a push by city authorities to make Liuzhou an EV for other cities around the world as they try and vehicle sales last year, said BloombergNEF. between US giant General Motors and state- worker Zhang Jiageng, who said the cost of using manufacturing hub, and a concerted effort to convince drivers to give up their gas guzzlers to “At the beginning, people had many concerns backed SAIC Motor Corp. and Guangxi his Baojun E200 is almost unnoticeable. He pays overcome concerns over range, reliability and meet ambitious emissions targets. about EVs, such as safety or the convenience of Automobile Group Co., carried out a free 10- about 0.1 yuan, or 2 cents, per kilometer for battery safety that have held back electric car take- While governments from Germany to the US charging,” Gou Yi, a deputy chief at Liuzhou’s month test-drive campaign in 2017. More charging and gets unlimited free parking at the up globally. Working with local carmaker SAIC- offer subsidies on EV purchases, sales still lag well branch of the National Development and Reform than 15,000 people took the automaker’s Baojun designated electric-vehicle parking lots, or two GM-Wuling Automobile Co. — whose tiny, dirt behind those for conventional cars outside of a Commission, China’s top economic planner, said E100 for a spin, providing the company with hours free in regular car parks. Zhang said barely cheap EV has been China’s top seller for most of few pockets in Europe like Norway and Sweden. in an interview. “What we did was to make sure 12,000 items of feedback. The trial was so popular drives his other car, a Subaru SUV. the past nine months, beating even Tesla Inc. — Liuzhou’s strategy may also be instructive for our citizens felt it’s very comfortable to use EVs. that available slots ran out within minutes, and 70 “If you make EVs that are affordable and they also rolled out a slew of incentives, from legacy automakers like General Motors Co. and People have realised how economical and easy per cent of test-drivers bought one of the vehicles. convenient, then they will replace peoples’ bike, extensive test drives to free parking and tens of Volkswagen AG, which are pumping tens of electric cars are, and how much cleaner our air has Wuling then studied residents’ needs and scooter or whatever else they might be thousands of charge points, to encourage people billions of dollars into a high-stakes bet that the become after more and more EVs hit the roads.” driving habits, tailoring the Baojun E100 for a commuting on,” said Bill Russo, chief executive to buy electric cars. future is electric. New-energy vehicles accounted Liuzhou’s first move was to expose wary daily commute of less than 30 kilometers (19 officer of advisory firm Automobility, Shanghai. .