Senior Chinese officials have outlined how they aim to turn China into the world’s largest producer of electric cars.
Speaking at a conference at the government’s Diaoyutai guesthouse, the officials acknowledged that their efforts faced challenges in terms of the cost and safety of electric cars. They promised a nationwide effort by manufacturers, universities, research institutes and government agencies to overcome these obstacles.
Wan Gang
Wan Gang (seen on the right), a former Audi engineer in Germany who is now China’s minister of science and technology, portrayed the country’s electric car initiative as central to China’s international competitiveness, but said that there were environmental goals as well.
‘We need to be sustainable in different sectors, particularly in the auto sector,’ he said.
While electric cars are rapidly improving, they remain roughly twice as expensive as similarly sized gasoline-powered cars, which also provide greater range, higher top speeds and better records for reliability.
Mr. Wan, the minister of science and technology, raised another concern when he noted that the industry had to look at safety as it sought to make electric cars ever lighter.