China has punished two ‘new energy’ vehicle makers for producing and selling vehicles with batteries that had lower power capacity than advertised, state media said on Monday, the latest move in a widening scandal involving green car subsidies. According to Reuters, the government has accused more than 25 car makers, including Nissan and Hyundai, of breaking rules on green car subsidies in recent month, casting a pall over China’s drive to support the industry and combat heavy pollution which affects large swathes of the country. China spent $4.5 billion last year in subsidies for such vehicles, although it is set to gradually phase out the payments by 2021. The plan has helped sales of electric and plug-in hybrids more than quadruple last year to 331,000 vehicles.
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