The pollution situation in China is one of the worst in the world. The industrial and technological revolution in China has propelled the country to a super power status in the world, but it has also taken a lot out of the health of people there. The capital city of Beijing and nearby states have been hit badly with air pollution because of the surrounding industrial areas. The government is now taking drastic measures to tackle this worsening situation. Recently, a red alert was issued in Beijing and all flights & buses were suspended due to heavy smog.
Electric Taxis and China
According to nbdpress, Any new taxi on the road must be electric, and almost all of the 70,000 petrol powered taxis in Beijing will be replaced gradually with electric vehicles.
The report says-
All newly added or replaced taxis in the city of Beijing will be converted from gasoline to electricity, according to a draft work program on air pollution control for Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and surrounding areas in 2017.
The long term monetary and environmental benefits of this project are undeniable. However, the cost of this project is not going to be cheap, the total cost of this campaign is expected to touch the 9 billion Yuan mark which roughly equals $1.3 billion.
Problems with electric vehicle Adoption
Electric Vehicles (EVs) are very promising, but their price is still a huge problem for common man. A conventional taxi in China costs approximately $10000, but an entry level electric vehicle costs almost double that amount at approx. $20000. Many manufacturers are trying to tackle this problem like Tesla with their Model 3, but it still has a long way to go for mainstream adoption.
Second major problem with Electric vehicles is their range. An entry level $20000 EV will get you a maximum of 150-mile range on a full charge which is not sufficient for long travels due to frequent charges required.
Third major problem with EVs is the Charging capability. The highest end state of the art Tesla electric car takes a minimum of 30mins to charge with a supercharger, and an average EV takes at least an hour to charge. Compare that to less than a minute of conventional gas refuel, and it feels like an eternity. Also, the current availability of charging stations for Electric vehicles is like finding water in the desert. It's a developing technology still very much in its infancy, and we still have a lot of time to go when we'll be able to get an under $10000 Electric Vehicle with 250-300 mile range and charging time under 10 minutes.
Future of EVs in China
China is currently the biggest electric vehicle market in the world with more than half a million electric cars in total. Currently, around 67000 taxis out of the total 71000 run on petrol. Electric cars have a much smaller carbon footprint than conventional vehicles. It’s not new for a Chinese city to make a move towards electric taxis. Taiyuan and Shenzhen announced similar policies for their taxi fleets before, but there are a lot more people living in Beijing than the other two cities. Considering the present state of the environment in Beijing, it makes sense for them to switch to ZEVs. Lots of Asian countries are promoting the use of ZEVs to combat pollution by reducing duties and taxes on them.
Do you guys think the move to Electric Taxis will be successful in China?
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