Hong Kong’s government wants 30 percent of the city’s private cars to be either dual-energy, such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius hybrid, or fully electric by 2020. Private buyers of electric vehicles are exempted from registration levies, which could halve the cost of some models, said Eva Wong, a spokeswoman for the Environment Bureau. Corporate purchasers enjoy additional tax incentives, she said.
On Monday there was a one day surge in the price of copper when China’s BYD Co Ltd reaffirmed its commitment to developing electric vehicles, backed by a few days earlier commitment by official China to make their electric car policy work. Copper fell back the next day when statistics came out suggesting Europe is heading back towards recession.
Below how Reuters covered the news.
China pushes ahead on e-cars; BYD shares soar By Fang Yan and Alison Leung BEIJING/HONG KONG | Mon Nov 14, 2011 5:59am EST
(Reuters) - China is pushing ahead with efforts to encourage the development of electric vehicles in the world's largest auto market, boosting shares of Chinese green car maker BYD Co Ltd, which is backed by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, to their best daily gain in 3 years.
But whether China's green initiatives, including allowing potential buyers in Beijing and Shanghai to get electric cars without going through license plate auctions or lotteries, will boost sales of BYD's e6 electric car remains a big question, industry observers say.
---- Regulators in Beijing, including the National Development and Reform Commission, issued a joint statement late last week, calling for its 25 pilot cities to draw up plans to push EV sales which also include installing charging facilities and charging spots at individual users' neighborhoods, among others.
Strong demand for cars would be released if potential buyers who did not receive a license to buy a car were able to purchase electric cars, said Daiwa Securities analyst Jeff Chung.
---- Government policy would favor the development of electric cars, but the real pick-up in sales would not start until late 2012 or 2013, he added.
Beijing has declared the electric vehicle industry a top priority, earmarking $1.5 billion a year for the next 10 years to transform the country into one of the leading producers of clean vehicles.
It also handpicked 25 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, to lead the migration to green vehicles. More
From this blog’s perspective we don’t have much interest with copper, but we certainly do in if a viable EV motoring segment gets underway in China. For one thing it might make some sense for the Chinese stockpile. As the world’s largest auto market, the potential for EVs is huge, once the problem with EVs are resolved.
Like the west this year, there are few EV options available to any potential buyers, and just like the west, the supporting recharging infrastructure isn’t in place. Though the government has just ordered China’s top 25 cities to get on with it. In a command economy its far more likely to happen quickly. As in the west, polls show that the public is still highly sceptical about buying any type of EV. Unlike in the west, Beijing has the means to order it, as a means to reducing China’s notorious city smog problems. At the least it can order all party officials and municipal fleets to make the switch by some given date. As in the west, many new models are becoming available next year, and the economies of scale start kicking in next year in the manufacturing costs of EVs and their batteries. Improvements with the batteries are at hand too, with new generation batteries expected about 2014-2015, offering lower weight, better range and speed of recharging.
Not a moment too soon either, since problems have started to surface in the USA, with battery fires and EVs. A development with the potential to delay the take up of EVs everywhere. We will attempt to follow developments in this EV story.
GXY Price at posting:
32.4¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
