China's NEV industry seeks green development amid transformation

With the rapid development of disruptive technologies, China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has witnessed positive progress in recent years.

The green and low-carbon transformation with the goal of carbon neutrality has gradually become a concerted action to deal with climate change worldwide, and the NEV industry is a critical engine to boost the green and low-carbon transformation of China's automobile industry and the sustainable development of the country's economy and society, industry insiders said.

China's NEV industry has gained further momentum in 2023. In the first three quarters, the NEV sales reached 6.28 million units, up 37.5 percent year on year, with a market penetration rate of 29.8 percent, said Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, at an NEV conference.

The overall goal of the country's automobile industry in green and low-carbon development is to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, said Li Jun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Li said considering that most commercial vehicles use internal combustion engines, transforming the traditional energy power system to decarbonization and zero-carbonization should be promoted in the research and development of future automotive products.

He also called for efforts to continuously expand the scale of the NEV market, reduce the power consumption of electric vehicles, and boost the high-quality development of electrification.

China issued a plan to develop the hydrogen energy industry in March 2022, clarifying that hydrogen energy is an indispensable component of the national energy system and a crucial carrier for realizing green and low-carbon transformation.

Wan highlighted the need to drive the core technology innovation of hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles, and connect the "hydrogen highway" to promote cross-regional operation on a large scale.

Hydrogen energy facilities should be constructed rationally to establish a comprehensive and large-scale hydrogen-energy transportation demonstration project, Wan added.

More efforts should be made to reduce carbon emissions from vehicle operations and build low-carbon transportation and energy systems to realize the green, coordinated development of the whole industrial chain, according to a roadmap of the green automobile industry jointly compiled by several departments.

Chen Jiachang, vice minister of science and technology, emphasized that as the global NEV industry experiences rapid growth, it is vital to strengthen basic research and pivotal technology research and intensify international sci-tech cooperation to provide sci-tech support for global green and low-carbon development in the sector.