R&D support needed for EV industry

Local governments have pledged to support the R&D of key EV technologies.

For instance, Guangdong provincial government plans to invest more than 57 billion yuan into 66 key new energy projects between 2015 and 2020.

While cars with internal combustion engines are generally less expensive to buy, Wan claimed that EVs are a quarter of the price to run, compared with gasoline and diesel counterparts.

He praised the efforts of several local EV initiatives, including the unveiling of Shanghai New Energy Vehicle Data Collection and Monitoring Center, which made its debut on Thursday.

The center will be capable of real-time monitoring of 2,000 electric vehicles in the city during the first phase of a 5-million-yuan project, to collect data on their performance and running.

The data will be collected via electronic terminals, which transmit information to the monitoring center by GPRS.

The center will record vehicle mileage, battery use, performance of recharging stations and other systems-management information.

Around 80 percent of the cars linked to the system will cover less than 80 kilometers per day, according to statistics.

Wan said such information will be of great value for automakers and research institutions in the future, as they develop new EV designs.

By the end of March, China had around 39,800 electric vehicles on the road, 80 percent of which were used for public transport.

But Wan urged higher private use of EVs, as the government looks to reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels.