China's 'New Energy' Vehicle Goals Dwarf the U.S.
President Obama has set a goal for America to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. China, on the other hand, has set a target to put one million electric cars on its roads annually by 2015.
The discrepancy in the two targets highlights the growing division between the two countries' cleantech development. In the competition to dominate the emerging low-carbon economy, China is swiftly gaining the upper-hand on the United States.
According to The Guardian newspaper, China's new plan to make "new energy" vehicles -- hybrid and electric -- a national priority will soon be published.
The country's grandiose new energy transportation goals include investing 100 billion yuan (US$15.2 billion) in electric and hybrid vehicles over the next ten years in order for them to secure a larger fraction of the 100 million vehicles it plans to manufacture annually by 2020. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the country produced over 18 million automobiles in 2010.
Image credit: BYD Auto
Nathanael Baker is the Managing Editor of EnergyBoom. He has researched and reported on the issues of renewable energy, sustainability, and climate change for over two years. He has provided research to the New York Times and The Economist, as well as being published on different media outlets including, The Energy Collective.
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