Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles peeking into clean car industries and car manufacturers of China, India, South Korea and Germany. Please send comments and suggestions using our Contact page or by leaving a comment at the end of this article.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, or SAIC Motor, is China’s largest car manufacturer. The automotive firm is actually a government-owned company and operates from 50 different plants scattered all over Shanghai. SAIC has a very wide product range, providing passenger cars, commercial cars, tractors, trucks, buses, motorcycles, and auto parts. These products are marketed by different brands such as Shanghai-Sunwin Bus Corporation, Shanghai-Huizhong Automotive Manufacturing, Shanghai-Xingfu Motorcycle, among others. The company also controls a number of brands more familiar to Western consumers, including the some General Motors and VW brands, Rover (now called Roewe) and MG brands.

Between 2001 and 2004, SAIC Motor briefly owned 20% of Chery Automobile, another big car manufacturer in China. Additionally it owns 51% of the South Korean SsangYong Motor Company. Furthermore, SAIC Motor has the brand MG Rover under its wing as well when it acquired Nanjing Automobile Corporation. Rover is now called Roewe, and the company currently produces the new MG 7, MG 3SW and the MG TF.

SAIC Motor Brands. Courtesy SAIC Motor.

SAIC Motor also nurtures two business partnerships with General Motors. One is the Shanghai General Motors Co., Ltd. or Shanghai GM (SGM), and the other is a joint venture with GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co., Ltd. called SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. or SGMW.

SGM has 3 major manufacturing plants, 4 vehicle production factories and 2 power train companies. It manufactures and markets the Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac vehicles. SGMW specializes in the mini and small car segment of China now, and possibly globally in the future.

Additionally SAIC collaborates with Volkswagen as the Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd., which makes the VW Santana for China consumers.

Recently, the Chinese government has been promoting the development of fuel-efficient, environment-friendly cars. Part of the agenda is to provide tax benefits to consumers who purchase what are now called “clean cars” and public taxi fleets are also given subsidies to acquire the new environment-friendly car models. As a government-owned company, SAIC Motor was one of the first to respond to the call. The company has announced that it is set to launch its first hybrid car in 2010 to be marketed under the SAIC brand and not under any of SAIC’s foreign ventures. The Roewe 750 hybrid sedan.

Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Sedans

SAIC Roewe 750 Hybrid Sedan. Courtesy cn.autoblog.com.

The Roewe 750 hybrid sedan plans to use U.S.-sourced parts, particularly from A123 Systems, a battery maker in Massachusetts, and from Delphi Corp., an auto parts maker in Michigan. It is based on the Rover 75 model with what look slike minor bodywork changes.

The hybrid alternative-fuel propulsion technology vehicle is currently termed as a mild hybrid car because it still sources power from the gasoline engine but has an electric motor with iron-phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries that offers only assistance, following in the footsteps of the Honda Civic hybrid and the Toyota Prius. This configuration is expected to cut fuel consumption by 20% when compared to the Rover 75, according to estimates by the company.

SAIC Roewe 550 Plug-In Sedan. Courtesy xgo.com.cn.

Also in the work is SAIC Motor’s first plug-in hybrid mid-class sedan called the Roewe 550 for 2012 market release. The car is expected to save up to 50% fuel consumption and will be priced between 142,800-189,800 RMB (US$ 20,900-27,800) depending on models and options, according xgo.com.cn.

More hybrid models are planned for 2011-2012 mass release. The next three years are filled with plans for these clean cars, though overseas release has not yet been announced. As of press time, SAIC expressed that it has no overseas plans yet and plans to focus its efforts mostly on the expansion of the domestic Chinese market, despite the reported use of U.S. technologies in its clean car development projects.

All this excitement is made possible by a new R&D arm the company recently created. SAIC Motor launched a power train joint venture in early 2009 called Shanghai Jieneng Automotive Technology for the development of hybrid and electric power trains. The new car technologies to be developed here will aim to design, build and integrate lithium-ion batteries, and to reduce fuel consumption by 20% in their future cars. The new venture has SAIC Group owning 90% and SAIC Motor the other 10%, with eventual investment to reach 2 billion yuan or US$ 293 million.

With an agreement signed with the government of Shanghai to supply about 1,000 clean, alternative energy cars for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the vast China market is ready for SAIC’s new, clean and environmentally friendly cars. It will be only a matter of time before this giant Chinese carmaker take its products across the world.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) – Giant Chinese Carmaker to Stir Up Excitement is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of articles peeking into clean car industries and car manufacturers of China, India, South Korea and Germany. Please send comments and suggestions using our Contact page or by leaving a comment at the end of this article.

China is becoming a force to reckon with in the auto industry, and I’m not talking about the huge potential number of car-buying consumers. I’m talking about China’s car manufacturing industry. And specifically clean, low-emission cars.

Recently, China has adopted new measures to boost its car industry, especially in the clean car arena, despite the global economic crisis. Chinese-made cars started to receive much attention in recent major auto shows. It took China some time to jump on the bandwagon, but now that it has set its goals, the way forward seems quite clear. And with China in on the game, it would only be a matter of time before China flexes all of its muscles to provide clean cars for the rest of the world, and in so doing, change the world’s transportation industry.

In 2006, China became the third largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind only to Japan and the United States. Currently it has the second largest automobile market in the world, following only behind the U.S. It will be only a matter of time before many million more Chinese consumers can afford cars of their own. The car population was last recorded at 19 million back in 2005. Now, the car industry has set its sights on developing not just cars, but environment-friendly cars. And when such promise can be harnessed to promote environmental safety, changes are sure to come.

Getting in the Game

China is one of the leading pollution emitters in the world, right alongside the United States. Fortunately, because of its sheer size, it also has the best potential to make a big difference fast when it comes to low-emission automobile development. China has a strong eco-friendly legislation system and has a growing automobile market with capital investments to spare for the development of low-emissions vehicles. China’s market also has a global reach, which means that if China starts coming out with eco-friendly vehicles, the vehicles are sure to be affordable, much like most other Chinese exports. Aside from that, the Chinese government is also quite willing to invest and commit resources to the clean car technology.

China has never been known to be a leader in quality car manufacturing. The quantity may have been there, but quality would be lacking. It was only in 2001 that China decided to prioritize its clean car research and development industry, particularly the creation of fuel cell cars, hybrid cars, and electric cars. This was already after the year 2000, when Japan already had thousands of electric cars. During the same year, the United States was setting long-term goals and Europe has invested a lot of money on fuel cell buses. But since China decided to take on this road, it had no problem catching up. Before long, the country’s clean car industry was creeping ahead the countries that sparked its motivation to create clean cars in the first place.

Developing Clean Vehicles

Clean cars come in different types, mostly in the form of electric cars, fuel cell cars, and hybrid cars. Electric cars run purely on battery power and are known for their zero emission rates though they are only ideal in specific driving circumstances. Fuel cell cars, on the other hand, runs on hydrogen fuel with byproduct being heat and water. Hybrid cars employ power from both a rechargeable battery pack and an engine (running on one of various standard fuels) to achieve very high mileage. All three types have the common element of using battery packs to power part or all of their propulsion needs.

It took China around five years to come up with functional models of all three types of cars. Despite China’s slow rise to the challenge, what it does, it does quite well. In fact, its fuel cell car was hailed as one of the most successful among all the fuel cell cars in the Michelin Challenge Bibendum 2006 Paris competition. The car, called the Chao Yue No. 3, brought home four gold awards in total. They have also started using hybrid cars for public transportation and electric cars for export.

The Chuangxin No. 1 fuel cell buses are now being used in seven Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. The buses are noticeably very quiet and boast of high mileage at about 18.6 thousand miles (30 thousand kilometers) of service.

With these accomplishments China has come a long way to reach its goals, with the main long-term goal being that the cars should reduce emissions by 30% and save gas by 30%. Speeds are expected to be at around 100 miles per hour or mph (160 kilometers per hour or km/h) for cars and 50 mph (80 km/h) for buses.

Chao Yue No. 3 fuel cell car

Chuangxin No. 1 fuel cell bus

The development in the Chinese clean car industry were led by Dongfeng Electric Car Co., Chery Automobile Co., and a few other leading car manufacturers in China. Some of the development were led by Dr. Yang Yifu, a researcher who worked on the electric car technology in Japan for three years. Going back to his homeland, Dr. Yang Yifu found that the concept of hybrid cars was not well known in the country. In fact, a lot of people in the Chinese car industry were still uncertain about such new idea. Eventually, Chinese car companies got it and  began launching their own thrust into the eco-friendly automobile industry.

Chery Automobile

Not long after, the Chinese clean car industry was dubbed as the largest publicly funded development research in history of car manufacturing. Dongfeng brought hybrid buses to the market; Chery has done the same. According to Chery, their research and development is now focused on hybrid power. However, Chery’s hybrid-powered cars are different from other popular hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius. The Toyota Prius is a high technology hybrid car that saves more gas but is very costly to produce. Chery, on the other hand, is developing mid-range and short-range hybrid cars to lower production costs, while maintaining a faster development cycle and shorter time to market. Chery has released the S18EV, a vehicle that runs on electric battery, promising 93 miles or 150 km range on one charge.

BYD Auto

Another industry leader is BYD Auto, a lithium-ion battery manufacturer and now a revolutionary car company based in Shenzhen, China. BYD , or “Build Your Dreams,” has started to showcase its E6 electric car at major auto shows around the world. The all-electric sedan is set for mass production and is highly promising. The E6 uses a revolutionary ferrous battery designed by its experienced battery engineers. The electric car can drive up to around 249 miles (400 km) on one full battery charge and can reach top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h). The aim, according to BYD executives, is to create an electric car that “people can use like a normal car.” BYD has also come out with the F3DM, yet another revolutionary plug-in hybrid vehicle.

The Government’s Involvement

By the year 2020, about 20% of all cars roaming China are expected to be fuel cell cars, all made in China. If this goal were reached, then China would surpass United States and Japanese car manufacturers in the clean car industry.

To help with such lofty goal, the Chinese government now offers rebates to boost the use of hybrid and electric cars, and public transport fleets are encouraged to buy clean vehicles. The government has also released subsidies reaching up to about $8,000 to all taxi fleets and public transport agencies in thirteen cities China with every low-emission vehicle purchased. Setting up of charging stations for hybrid plug-in cars all over Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai is also part of the plan. Finally consumers are being encouraged to buy clean cars, with promises of tax credits to those who cooperate in the move towards clean car use.

The Future

The most important advantage of hybrid and electric cars is their ability to recover energy during slowing or stopping, and store it in battery packs for later reuse. This is called regenerative braking or regen, and it is exactly what makes hybrid and electric cars efficient and attractive: high mpg for hybrid cars or long range per charge for all-electric vehicles. In most Chinese cities, driving is done in relatively low speeds with lots of stop-and-go urban traffic. This presents the perfect environment for these low-emission cars to be more readil accepted and adapted by Chinese drivers.

As successes, challenges and opportunities emerge, China will probably continue to maintain an ambitious course on the future direction of its car industry. Now already in planning are more advanced models of hybrid cars, hydrogen fuel cell cars and electric cars. As its industry tries to fulfill its own consumers’ future need for efficient and affordable cars, China will no doubt look to export its products elsewhere as well.

Other Asian countries are obvious target markets. Next stops: Europe and America.

Clean Cars Made in China: a Look at China’s Low-Emission Car Industry is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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Car manufacturers are soon to bring to market electric cars and plug-in cars. With competition heating up and new models announced, this is actually a real exciting time for the car industry and consumers alike. We all hope this trend will lead to a flourishing industry, help clean up the environment and reduce our independence on fossil fuel at the same time. But we can’t forget the single key element that will enable electric and plug-in cars to operate with any practicality: the support infrastructure.

Yes I’m talking about the plug-in stations that will help “fuel” these new vehicles coming on the road. It is not practical to expect consumers to only charge up their electric and plug-in cars at home during the night. Creative solutions will have to be implemented to allow recharging at any time during the working day. Driving for only 50-100 miles on a charge and charging only at night at home are not good enough. Consumers demand convenient charging places and times. Without this ability the electric and plug-in car industry will only progress on a slow growth path which makes it susceptible to complete collapse at any time. Without this ability the electric and plug-in car industry is not sustainable.

According to gm-volt.com website, important initiatives for Chevrolet Volt has already started. In the article “GM Announces Initiative to Get Communities “Plug-in Ready” for the Volt” there are a number of positive development happening in this electric car program. Ed Peper, manager of Chevrolet said “the Chevy Volt is truly coming to life, but preparing the market for electric vehicles also requires capable partners from outside the auto industry.”

There are many key stakeholders in this new campaign and they must all get intimately involved and work together. State, city and county governments; electric utilities; regulators/public utility commissions; permitting and code officials; Clean Cities coalitions; local employers; universities and community colleges; and last but not least, early electric vehicle adopters. These groups have to get together to address what could become the Achilles’ heel of electric and plug-in cars.

In terms of providing incentives to promote local consumer adoption, GM suggests the following:

• Public and workplace charging infrastructure
• Consumer-friendly electricity rates and renewable electricity options
• Government and corporate vehicle purchases
• Supportive permitting and codes for vehicle charging
• Other incentives such as high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane access.

GM is also making a strong effort to push commercialization of plug-ins by:

• Working with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a coalition of more than 40 utilities to solve challenges and accelerate the commercialization of plug-in electric vehicles.
• Playing a lead role in helping to create Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards for the vehicle charging interface.

What’s do you think? Are there something else we’re missing that must be considered to help push the electric cars forward? Please share your opinions and comments below.

Plug-In-Ready Infrastructure May Be Chevrolet Volt’s Key to Success is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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There are many ways to help solve the current high prices at the gas pumps, improve passenger car miles per gallon (mpg), and curve global warming trends. Just look at your favorite news outlets and you’ll find debates and ideas abound on how to solve this problem. One of them includes implementing sin taxes.

Sin taxes to help the development of hybrid cars, electric cars, plug-in cars and clean diesel cars? Let take a look.

Sin taxes refer to new types of “creative” taxes borne out of cash-strapped states and cities that governors, legislatures and mayors are proposing. Think plastic bag tax, obesity tax (soft drink), junk food tax and gas guzzler tax. Expanding a step further on the gas guzzler tax, what if we give it a more positive twist. Something like “green tax”?

But seriously, whatever we call it, we’ll all have to recognize the importance behind a “green tax “and think about it carefully before dismissing it as just another tax. We all have a choice in what we choose to drive. The key thing here is the reason behind our choices. Other than people who need certain types of vehicles to make a living, many of us have a simple need in a vehicle: to get us to and from work reliably every day and the occasional pleasure trips. The problem is we, collectively as a nation/group/people, have our behaviors to blame for not making good and educated choices.

Education and behavioral change will help get us out of the oil dependency and global warming bind. Instead of leaving it up to the mass to continue and make bad choices, we’ll need help with our education and behaviors to begin heading in the right direction. Just like many other laws already in force and doing good, a “green tax” can help us achieve good things. Whatever we decide to do, consumer behaviors must be at the top of the list of things to change.

This is because there is no reason for the mass to buy hybrid cars, electric cars, plug-in cars or even clean diesel cars. This is especially true when gas prices are below $3-4 per gallon. The “green tax”, if done right, can help stabilize gas prices, and together with other tax incentives, will be strong reasons to buy cleaner cars.

So no one likes taxes. But with the oil dependency and global warming crises, shifting people’s behaviors will be essential. Sin taxes, and more specifically “green taxes”, are one way for us to make progress. And when the consumers make good, sensible choices, car manufacturers will have to meet such demands. This means better, cleaner cars.

Would you support a “green tax”, knowing you’ll help developing cleaner cars and lowering global warming risks in the long run? Is this a worthy investment? Please share your thoughts and opinions.

Sin Taxes: Cleaner Cars, Improved MPG and Lower Global Warming Risk? is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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Updated 08-02-09. This is a compendium to help track the growing number of electric and plug-in cars that have been announced by manufacturers to be available in the next few years. It will serve as a quick reference for comparison purpose only. Because of the dynamic nature of the industry, this Electric & Plug-in Cars Compendium will be updated regularly as more information becomes available. For suggestion or correction please use the contact form following the table.

Click on a column heading to sort.

Please use the form on our Contact page to send your suggestion or correction regarding the information in the Electric & Plug-in Cars Compendium.

Electric & Plug-in Cars Compendium is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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• History of the Electric Car