China, the world’s largest automotive market, is not looking to ban gasoline-powered cars any time soon, Wang Binggang says.
Binggang and other policymakers have been advising the Chinese government on car market policies, and why the country has to drop considerations to have a firm deadline for banning the sales of new gasoline and diesel vehicles.
“Some countries have a policy banning fuel cars and we are against such moves,” said the head of the advisory panel, Binggang.
“We don’t want to kill fuel cars,” he said, adding that China will incentivise the development and sales of hybrid vehicles to have the fleet at least partially powered by electricity.
Countries in Europe, including Norway and the United Kingdom, have mulled banning the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans, with the UK currently considering whether to bring forward the deadline to 2035 or even sooner from the current deadline 2040.
Market conditions in China, however, are not conducive to setting a firm timetable for phasing out vehicles powered by fossil fuels, policymaker Binggang also said.
Last year, China was considering setting a timetable for phasing out gasoline cars in some regions of the country.
The country has even curbed some subsidies for electric vehicles over the past year, but it is looking to raise its target to have ‘New Energy Vehicles’ account for “over 20 percent” by 2025.
According to IHS Markit, last year, China was considering a target of 25 per cent of NEVs of all car sales by 2025, but amid the massive subsidy cuts, the world’s largest energy vehicle market could find reaching the 25 per cent share target a huge challenge.
Under the latest proposal from the panel led by Binggang, the target for NEV sales in 2025 is between 15 per cent and 25 per cent.
China’s target for NEV sales in 2035 will likely be set at between 50 per cent and 60 per cent of all sales.
