The Chinese Government has been on something of a health-kick ever since the ultra-successful Beijing Olympics when the city clamped down heavily on air pollution. Now, the central government has announced new plans to help the growth of green cars within the country.
According to a report from the Xinhua news agency, the government will subsidise purchases of clean energy vehicles for public fleets in 13 cities in a bid to help the industry develop green technology.
Initially the scheme will work on a trial basis and will be used to promote the use of hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by public transport operators as well as sanitary services, postal services and taxi firms. The scheme will be rolled out across cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
So how will the subsidies work? Well, they will be based on the gap in prices between cars with traditional engines and those that are more energy efficient. At the moment it is unclear how many vehicles will be brought under the scheme, but local governments have also been asked to allocate money to build and maintain facilities for green vehicles.
The government has already committed to helping the electric car industry in an effort to bring China out of its economic slump – BYD Automotive has already launched a plug-in hybrid car, which is China’s first home-grown electric vehicle.
SAIC Motor Corporation, the largest automaker in China, has also committed to a venture with its state-owned parent to invest around $293million into developing both hybrid and electric cars. It also plans to introduce a fuel cell vehicle into China by 2010.
