China OKs Energy-Efficiency Subsidies for 16 Chinese Automakers; More to Come
By Scott Doggett June 30, 2010
China has approved fuel-efficiency subsidies for 71 models made by 16 Chinese automakers and joint ventures, and more models will be added to the list, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website today.
These subsidies are in addition to those residents of Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Hefei and Changchun will benefit from - up to 50,000 yuan ($7,320) - if they buy plug-in hybrid cars and up to 60,000 yuan ($8,784) if they buy fully electric cars, as GreenCarAdvisor reported on June 1.
The 3,000-yuan ($442) discount per car is intended to help reduce the country's dependency on foreign oil as well as curb the nation's air pollution. The average fuel consumption per vehicle in China is 2.28 tons a year, compared with 1.1 tons in Japan, according to the Chinese government.
The agency said all of the models are fitted with engines no bigger than 1.6 liters. BYD's F0 minicar, Beijing Hyundai's i30 compact and Shanghai General Motors Co.'s Lova compact are on the list. So too are models by Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co.
The average fuel consumption of the 71 approved models is about 20 percent below "current standards," the agency said.
China, the world's second-largest energy user, bought a record 203.8 million metric tons of crude oil last year as an average of 37,383 new vehicles were sold every day. About 40 percent of the country's cities have significant air-pollution problems, according to Chinese government data.
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I'm in China right now, and I can tell you that residents of Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Hefei and Changchun can receive up to ¥50,000 (US$7,350) in subsidies for plug-in hybrid cars. That's over 16 times what you suggested in your article.
For purely electric cars, the maximum subsidy is even greater -- as much as ¥60,000 or, ¥3,000 per kWh.
I know you say "more to come", but links to this article are describing China's automotive energy-effeciency subsidies as "measly" and "laughably small", when just the opposite is the case.
http://www.chinaautoreview.com/pub/CARArticle.aspx?ID=4611
What you also failed to mention was that while buyers of vehicles with larger engines do not receive a discount, they DO pay a significant surcharge (as much as 40%) over the vehicle's list price.
Actually, we reported the larger subsidies to which you refer when they were announced on June 1. Please see:
China Announces Plan to Subsidize EVs and Plug-in Hybrids in Five Major Cities
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2010/06/china-announces-plan-to-subsidize-evs-and-plug-in-hybrids-in-five-major-cities.html
The subsidies mentioned above are new. I have added a sentence to the story appearing above to reflect that.
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