China's northern port city Tianjin will join hands with Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland and the third-largest city in the UK, in new energy vehicle (NEV) development, said an official of Tianjin on Thursday.
The Tianjin High-tech Area (THT) will cooperate with the National Institute of Graphene of the Manchester University in NEV lightweight solutions and research and development of grapheme batteries, said Wang Wei, deputy director of the administrative committee of the THT.
The National Institute of Graphene conducts world-leading research into graphene, an allotrope of carbon that is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel and conducts heat and electricity efficiently.
Meanwhile, the THT signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Allied Vehicles Group, the UK's leading supplier of adapted and special purpose vehicles, in NEV, according to Wang.
The THT has formed a complete NEV industrial chain over the years, said Wang. In the area of battery, the most key technology for NEVs, a 6 billion ($889.7 million) yuan power battery project from Boston-Power, a world leading battery provider, is expected to settle in the THT soon, Wang revealed.
In the field of motor, the world's leading in-wheel motor producer Protean Electric plan to invest 450 million yuan in an in-wheel motor production line in the THT, which is expected to have an annual output value of 1.2 billion yuan as it goes into operation, Wang said.
In terms of complete vehicle manufacturing, the THT has projects from automobile manufacturers such as Huwtai Motor Group, the National New Energy Vehicle Co and the China Hi-tech New Energy Automobile Co Ltd, he said.
Looking forward, the THT will expand the industrial chain based on its strength, with priority on shaping itself into an innovation center for NEVs and power batteries, said Wang.
The THT will also strive to be a R&D and production center of NEVs with world leading technologies, he added.
The THT is expected to see investment in the NEV sector increase by nearly 80 billion yuan by 2020, with a total output of around 120 billion yuan.
