Fresh bid to build charging network

Various levels of governments announced new initiatives as the lack of charging stations continues to hobble electric vehicle sales. Ding Ding / Xinhua

E-car infrastructure open to more than State Grid

More electric vehicles are expected to hit the road in China following progress in charging infrastructure and a range of favorable government policies across the country.

In a major step on the roadmap for reform, companies other than electricity monopoly State Grid can now submit bids to build charging facilities, according to Xinhua News Agency.

"This is definitely a piece of good news for us as sales of electric vehicles are closely connected to the number of charging facilities," an executive surnamed Zhu at automaker Zotye told Xinhua.

Zhu's words were echoed by an official at the Zhejiang provincial reform and development commission.

"Opening the sector will surely promote sales. The more charging facilities, the more likely people are to buy electric vehicles."

Expanding the charging network has already been a priority for many cities, especially Beijing.

Property developers in Beijing are now required to ensure 18 percent of parking lots in new or renovated communities are equipped with charging outlets, said Niu Jinming, director of the city's committee for promoting new energy vehicles in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald.

The move follows a plan by the Beijing government to complete construction of 1,000 public fast-charging stations by the end of the year in both downtown and suburban areas.

Two charging stations are being built along the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu expressway, the Beijing government information office said on its micro blog.

"When completed, they will help connect charging networks in Beijing and Tianjin, allowing electric vehicles to travel between the two cities without worries."

Charging stations are also being built along the expressway from Beijing to Hunan in Central China, according to the Changjiang Daily.

Industry insiders said it might help alleviate worries among potential customers about long-distance travel.

The Beijing government is also considering more electric vehicles in its fleet of taxies.

"Though the percentage (of electric vehicles) is yet to be determined, this is of course the direction of future policies and of future development," an official at the city's committee for promoting new energy vehicles told National Business Daily.

The number of taxis in Beijing will be stabilized at around 66,000 until 2015, according to a report jointly released by the city's transport commission and its development and reform commission.

In addition to a larger charging network, longer travel distances would boost the popularity of electric taxis, said Wang Binggang, an expert at China's program on energy-saving and new-energy vehicles.

"It will be better if fully charged electrics can run 300 km or so - otherwise drivers have to charge them in the middle of the day," Wang told National Business Daily.

Currently about 85 percent of the electric vehicles on the Beijing government list for subsidies have a single-charge range of nearly 300 km.

Some experts said travel distance might become an important factor affecting sales in Beijing or even nationwide as some of the capital's measures to promote new-energy vehicles might set an example for other cities.

More incentives

The Shanghai government also recently released a new series of favorable policies.

Each electric vehicle on the government list is entitled to a subsidy of up to 40,000 yuan ($6,400) and each hybrid is eligible for 30,000 yuan, according to a new regulation released on May 20 by the metropolis to encourage purchase and use of new-energy vehicles.

The Shanghai government has also more than tripled its subsidy for automakers from 300 yuan to 1,000 yuan for each battery they reclaim.

The moves came after Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong promised Tesla CEO Elon Musk in April that his government would offer 3,000 free license plates each year to imported pure electric vehicles.

License plates for gasoline vehicles in Shanghai are auctioned with prices reaching to 70,000 yuan last month.

The government in Wuhan, Hubei province is offering more incentives to stimulate its interest among city residents in new-energy vehicles.

In addition to a subsidy of 57,000 yuan, electric vehicles, hybrids and fuel cell vehicles are exempt of traffic tolls and the last-digit rule that restricts driving days, according to the city's trial measures released on May 19.

"This is the most favorable policy nationwide," an official at the Wuhan bureau of science and technology told Chutian Golden News.

The city government has made it a policy that new-energy vehicles must account for at least 50 percent of government procurement and those deployed in public services.

It also plans to build 1,280 charging poles across the city, with 1,050 to be completed this year.

The Wuhan government has set a goal of having 10,500 new-energy vehicles by the end of 2015. So far it has purchased 1,141, most of them buses, according to the report.

To realize the goal, the Wuhan government is expected to spend 1.68 billion yuan in subsidies and infrastructure, it added.