BYD bets big on electric cars-天津夏季达沃斯-北方网

Wang Chuanfu , chairman of BYD Co Ltd . [ Photo provided to China Daily ]

　　BYD Co Ltd, a major Chinese new-energy vehicle manufacturer, said on Monday it plans to sell 1million electric vehicles by 2020, betting big on the booming industry.

　　"I see no reason why demand is not growing. With the falling price of electric cars and charginginfrastructure in place, there will be more buyers choosing the green path," said Wang Chuanfu,the company's founder and chairman.

　　He made the remarks at the three-day Tianjin Davos Forum.

　　Wang said it marked a milestone for the market of electric cars in 2015 when 300,000 electriccars were sold, accounting for 1.3 percent of the gasoline cars sold. He predicted the figure isexpected to reach 30 percent by 2025 because of the growing interest from Chinese consumers.

　　"It may take a decade to grow from 0 to 1 percent for any industry, but it will only need five yearsto grow from 1 percent to 10. That '1 percent' is just the turning point," he said.

The production line of BYD Co Ltd in Shenzhen , Guangdong province . [ Photo provided to China Daily ]

　　He also said a pilot project of the so-called air bus or transit elevated bus to carry more than50,000 people in Shenzhen will be tested in September. Airbus is an urban transportation projectby BYD, designed to travel five to 10 meters above the cars with a cost of only one sixthcompared to the subway.

　　The Shenzhen-based carmaker sold about 62,000 electric vehicles last year, an increase ofmore than 200 percent year-on-year.

　　Some analysts agreed with Wang's points, saying the explosive growth of new energy vehiclesales in China is accelerating and pushing up demand for lithium batteries. But others havedoubts.

　　Chen Qingtai, head of the China EV 100 Association, a major nonprofit organization within thesector, warned that the market should avoid sacrificing product quality and safety for only blindexpansion. Chen said many automakers are lowering requirements for quality control and arespending less on research and innovation. He urged automakers not to be misled by soaringsales figures because they are the result of government subsidies.

　　Driven by government incentives, sales of NEVs climbed 131.4 percent to 126,000 in the firstfive months of this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

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