BEIJING 18th November, 2023 (WAM) China has selected 15 cities, including Beijing and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, as pilot locations to expand the use of new energy vehicles for public services, according to a plan released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday.
The cities were chosen based on their levels of overall socioeconomic growth, automobile industry development, and current adoption of new energy vehicles (NEVs), According to Chinadaily report.
The pilot project aims to have 600,000 NEVs providing public services in these cities, including as government vehicles, buses, sanitation trucks, taxis, delivery vehicles, airport shuttles, and heavy-duty trucks for special occasions.
To support the NEV expansion, approximately 700,000 charging stations and 7,800 battery swapping stations will be built in the pilot cities.
Specific targets were outlined for each city in terms of number of NEVs and charging/swapping stations. Priorities were also set for domestic manufacturing of key components, next-generation charging technology, and autonomous driving technology.
The goal is for the pilot project to provide replicable and scalable experience to guide the full marketization of NEVs across China. This is intended to lead the construction of a nationwide green and low-carbon transportation system.
The ministry did not specify the timeline for achieving the targets outlined in the plan. However, an earlier February statement indicated the pilot would run from 2022 to 2025, with a goal of 80% newly purchased or renewed public service vehicles being NEVs.