An Economic View on Electromobility in China

Abstract

The world’s largest car market with currently about 24 million new registrations (total vehicle market 26 million vehicles) per year relies more and more on electric mobility. Thus, in principle, a (pre-)decision for the automotive industry worldwide regarding new drive concepts has been made. Also, by the end of 2017, more than 80% of the buses in China’s megacities had already been converted to electric operation. By 2020, there will be more than 1.5 million electric cars and plug-in hybrids sold in China, with almost 54,500 electric cars sold in Germany in 2017, 117% more than the year before, yet Germany and Europe lag far behind. These are all irreversible signs that China is consistently advancing towards (E) automotive market leadership on the road to electrification of transport. Including topics such as disposal of lithium-ion cells, construction of charging infrastructure (target is one pillar per NEV per km in a few years), enough battery production capacity, stringent fuel consumption regulations and quotas for electric cars.