China-U.S. Agreement Boosts Zero-Emissions Vehicles

The commercialization of plug-in and fuel-cell electric vehicles in China and the U.S. gets a boost with a 5-year partnership under an agreement signed in China.

The ZEV Policy Lab is a collaboration between the University of California-Davis and the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC).

The alliance aims to help expand the global market for zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) by providing intellectual support for design of ZEV policies and analysis of consumer markets, including demand for charging stations, different types of ZEV technologies and effectiveness of incentives.

UC-Davis is a world leader in sustainable-transportation research, and the center is the administrative body that oversees and regulates many activities of the auto industry in China.

Primary UC-Davis partners are the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) and the UC-Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy.

The California Air Resources Board and the Chinese government’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will co-chair the new entity's advisory board. UC-Davis says major international and Chinese automotive and energy companies also will be invited to participate.

Gang Li, department chief in charge of vehicles at NDRC, says given the great importance the Chinese government now attaches to the development and commercialization of new-energy vehicles, establishment of the Policy Lab is timely.

“As a platform for Sino-U.S. exchanges and cooperation in the field of new-energy-vehicle policies, I believe that the Policy Lab will play an important role in promoting EV-related policy design and EV development in both countries,” he says.

Daniel Sperling, director of ITS-Davis, calls the agreement an important milestone in coordinating global efforts to speed the rate of clean-vehicle commercialization.

Joining forces with CATARC will allow California, the U.S. and China to promote best practices and policy initiatives that will bring new-energy vehicles to market not only in China and the U.S., but around the world.

In addition to policy research and studies of consumer behavior, the Policy Lab will train advanced-vehicle researchers and leaders in California and China and inform Chinese regional and central government officials on California’s ZEV and related vehicle policies.

The lab will be led by Yunshi Wang, director of the China Center for Energy and Transportation at ITS-Davis, and CATARC’s executive in charge of new-energy vehicles, Deputy Director Zhixin Wu.

The creation of the China-U.S. ZEV Policy Lab follows several recent measures announced by the Chinese government to fight the country’s hazardous smog problem and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. In July, the central government mandated that EVs make up at least 30% of government vehicle purchases by 2016. It also recently announced new financial incentives for EV purchases.