With a clear focus on reducing fuel consumption and emissions, it now appears the Chinese government is considering introducing a new requirement for passenger car vehicles.
According to the Global Times, vehicles could be equipped with belt-starter-generator systems for fuel efficiency which could help to save around five per cent on fuel.
The news came from general manager of Chery New Energy Company Yuan Tao and was confirmed by an industry insider from Dongfeng who claimed that implementation is likely to occur by 2012.
Under mass production it costs only 1,000yuan per car and is an innovation for traditional petrol engines that can boost fuel efficiency.
The report states that domestic fuel consumption in 2008 was 540million tons of petrol and 520million tons of diesel. Had all vehicles been fitted with the belt-starter-generator systems then annual fuel consumption could have been slashed by five million tons.
