Chinese President Xi Jinping confirms China will move to ban all petrol and diesel vehicles, though he provided no deadline for the phase-out. Chinese owned Volvo has already announced they will only produce electric or hybrid cars after 2018.
Xi has become one of the most vocal advocates for the Paris accord, a 2016 global climate change initiative championed by President Obama even after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal this year.China — which is the biggest investor in renewable energy, even as it’s still the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases — has vowed to cap its carbon emissions by 2030. The streets of Taiyuan, a manufacturing city in the heart of China’s coal country, already are filled with electric taxis.
China, already the world’s largest car market, aims for annual sales of “new energy vehicles” — a category that includes electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles — to reach 7 million by 2025.
India has the audacious goal of replacing or retrofitting all vehicles that have internal combustion engines by 2030.
“Having come late to the crude oil market the most important driver is not just environmental, it’s economic,” said Sophie Lu, Beijing-based China research head for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which analyzes energy markets. “Chinese regulators see the success of Tesla and other Californian companies, and want to promote the same success amongst Chinese car manufacturers.”
Global automakers also see their success in China. General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford Motor and Renault-Nissan are all expanding production of electric cars in Chinese cities or scouting out joint ventures to do so. |
