March 1, 2009
by dlevi
in Environment/Climate Change, Technical News
No Comments

Comment: China may have a massive Carbon footprint - but it also offers impressive hybrid vehicle options

A great piece in the Guardian this week has highlighted some of the curious paradoxes between China and the UK in terms of CO2 emissions and climate change, especially within the respective motor industries. It’s no secret that China’s rapidly growing and industrialising economy is responsible for colossal CO2 emissions - and indeed that its increasingly ever-crowded roads are a big part of this (1,500 new cars added every day).

Moreover while the UK’s economy has an inevitably smaller CO2 footprint - in terms of CO2 emissions per person we are of course far worse than our Chinese counterparts. But here’s the interesting statistic - even though both UK and Chinese drivers clearly have plenty reason to be concerned about CO2 - our Chinese counterparts are far more receptive to concepts of green motoring and hybrid vehicles than us.

In China 71% of motorists would consider an electric car, while in the UK the figure is just 37%. The stats for hybrids are similar - 54% and 30% respectively. Question is why does such a gulf exist between these motorists’ receptiveness to such technologies?

Could it be down to the fact that in China you can own a BYD petrol-electric hybrid (chargeable simply from a domestic supply rather than specialised power stations) for £15,000 while here in the Western world most options will set you back a fair bit more?

GM’s Chevy Volt for example is set to launch in 2011 and will cost around $27,000, while UK company Lightning is offering high-end sports hybrids for around £120,000 a piece (yes £120k - that was not a typo sadly). It’s true that you can get an entry level Prius for around £17,000 - but the problem is that these models will use far more petrol than the BYD option - which can go for up to 62 miles when fully charged before using a drop of petrol.

Considering the quality of options currently available to UK and Chinese motorists I’m not surprised we are seeing the latter far keener on these green technologies. Who needs loads of choice between moderate to expensive options when the Chinese market offers its customers one vastly superior option both in terms of economy and efficiency? I personally can’t wait for BYD to start exporting to the UK - maybe then we’ll see the aforementioned stats improve a little…

Dejan Levi

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