Kandi Technolgies Corp (KNDI)

[bullmarket2222]

Shanghai Sets Target for New Energy Vehicle Sales
07.16.2014 18:59

http://english.caixin.com/2014-07-16/100705007.html

Shanghai Sets Target for New Energy Vehicle Sales
Shanghai's government has approved a plan that calls for sales of 13,000 plug-in hybrids, electric cars, and electric buses by 2015, but situation for foreign brands still isn't clear
By intern reporter Bao Zhiming

(Beijing) -- Municipal authorities in Shanghai have approved a plan to further encourage the use of new energy vehicles in the city, in which a target is set to add 13,000 new energy cars in operation by the end of 2015.

But the eligibility of imported electric cars such as Tesla to the preferential policies has remained unclear.

The plan envisions sales of 9,500 plug-in hybrid and fully-electric passenger cars, 1,400 electric buses, and 2,100 specialized vehicles over the course of 2014 and 2015, and expects nearly a third of those sales to come this year.

According to Ma Jing, the deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, his office submitted the plan last year to national ministries in Beijing for approval. At a press conference on July 15, Ma announced that the plan had been approved and would soon be put into effect citywide.

Ma said that about 30 percent of sales under the plan will come from non-Shanghai carmakers whose electric-car models are on Shanghai's list of authorized new energy vehicles. So far, five non-Shanghai-based automakers have been listed in the plan including Beijing Automotive Group, BYD Co., JAC Motors, Chery Automobile Co., and Lifan Group. Local manufacturers Shanghai Automotive Industries Co. (SAIC) and Shanghai General Motors Co., Ltd. will account for the rest.

Once a car model is added to the list of new energy vehicles authorized by the Shanghai government, it becomes eligible for municipal subsidies and the city's system of new energy license plates. That system allows buyers of such cars to avoid the city's license-plate auction, where plates can cost nearly 100,000 yuan.

Media reported earlier that Shanghai plans to issue 20,000 free license plates to electric vehicles this year, including 3,000 allocated to imported vehicles. But Ma says that no such policy on imported electric cars has been formally enacted. He added that the city's branch of the National Reform and Development Commission, the country's top economic planner, is still investigating the possibility of adding Tesla's Model S to the new energy list.

According to statistics from Ma's commission, only 280 new energy license plates were issued in 2013, far fewer than planners had hoped. Sales reached 1,436 in the first half of 2014.

Ma says Shanghai's new energy vehicle sales have not met expectations, because there are “many obstacles to promoting new energy vehicles that haven't been overcome – for example, the issue of charging stations," he says.

But Ma is optimistic. “We should see a big rebound this year in new energy car sales," he said. “580 new energy license plates were issued in June, and Shanghai is studying an array of subsidy policies" for the cars, Ma said.

The plan calls for Shanghai to construct 1,800 charging stations by the end of 2014 and 4,200 next year, according to Ma. But he noted that most chargers installed so far have been built at car dealerships and around the city's airport, and there are relatively few charging stations in residential areas or public parking lots.

Shanghai is currently drawing up a citywide charging station plan, with measures that include a 30 percent subsidy for investment in public charging infrastructure and a requirement that new residential developments include chargers in 10 percent of parking spaces.

In response to the central government's announcement on July 13 that new energy vehicles should make up at least 15 percent of new cars purchased for local government use, Shanghai says it plans on buying 150 such vehicles this year – or 30 percent of the total.

(Rewritten by James Bradbury)