Where better to develop new standards then in a a developing country. America is already set in it’s ways, so China take it away.
China’s auto manufacturers, with prodding from
government, show alternative-fuel cars in Shanghai
Chinese automakers, under pressure from the country’s government to produce more fuel-efficient cars, unveiled a broad array of prototypes for fuel-cell cars, gasoline-electric hybrid cars and electric battery cars at the Shanghai auto show last week.
The variety and sophistication of the cars showed a significant improvement not just since the last Shanghai auto show two years ago, when Chinese automakers demonstrated limited technological innovation, but even in the months since the Beijing auto show in November 2006.
Universities and technical institutes across China have begun advanced vehicle propulsion research programs, combining strong government financial backing with the nation’s growing ranks of skilled engineers. China, worried about severe air pollution and rising dependence on imported oil, already has imposed more stringent fuel economy standards than the United States, but not as strict as the semi-voluntary standards in the European Union. It plans to tighten its standards considerably next year. China also has boosted its consumption tax to as much as 20 percent on gas guzzlers, while cutting it to 1 percent for fuel-efficient cars. Also, it is studying the possibility of tax incentives for buyers of hybrids.
Global automakers, including General Motors and Volkswagen, have begun cooperating closely with Chinese joint venture partners on the development of hybrid gas-electric vehicles. GM is in talks with a Chinese joint venture partner on sharing hydrogen fuel-cell technology as well.
Xu Liuping, chief executive of Changan Automobile, said the Chinese auto industry was hard working to save energy. Changan showed a hybrid gas-electric minivan at the Shanghai show. Xu said he had lined up local governments that promised to use it, making it possible for Changan to start building the vehicle in 2008.
Toyota and Honda already are far ahead in the hybrid gas-electric designs that have proved more attractive lately to Chinese companies than fuel cells, says Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of the Energy Technology Innovation Project at Harvard University. Japanese companies also control many crucial patents on hybrid technology.
GM showed a fuel-cell vehicle in Shanghai that in some ways is more advanced than a model shown at the Detroit auto show last January. The prototype here relies more on hydrogen and, unlike the Detroit show prototype, does not include a small gasoline engine as a backup.
Chinese automakers Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Chery each showed prototypes in Shanghai of fuel cell cars that they said they had developed on their own. Haima, a less-known Chinese automaker, showed an electric battery car. (New York Times)
Add A Comment