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Light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in China: An overview on the market and its comparisons to the United States

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  • Ou, Shiqi
  • Hao, Xu
  • Lin, Zhenhong
  • Wang, Hewu
  • Bouchard, Jessey
  • He, Xin
  • Przesmitzki, Steven
  • Wu, Zhixin
  • Zheng, Jihu
  • Lv, Renzhi
  • Qi, Liang
  • LaClair, Tim J.

Abstract

The fast-growing light-duty plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market in China has important implications for both the global vehicle market and energy policies. From the perspective of demand pull-supply push, this study examines China's PEV market by reviewing sales, product performance, and government policies from the last decade; and by comparing it with the market in the United States, the study attempts to generate market dynamics insights to the Chinese PEV market. On the demand side, inexpensive, small-sized PEVs have contributed the most to the recent rapid increase in sales, but this trend is diminishing. The majority of Chinese PEV sales in recent years occurred in economically prosperous regions or cities that are able to supply lucrative monetary incentives and otherwise PEV purchasing and driving privileges to consumers. On the supply side, expansion of the PEV market, incentivized by government policies, enable young, privately-owned automakers to compete with the established automakers. Overall, the PEV market concentration ratio is still small: hundreds of PEV models and new PEV automakers are competing in China; but when it comes to some major local markets, PEV sales are commonly dominated by the local automakers. In the U.S. market, except for Tesla, the vast majority of PEV models are manufactured by established manufacturers of conventional vehicles. Demand-pull policies (e.g. direct monetary purchase incentives) are being transitioned to supply-push policies (e.g. special fuel economy credits for PEVs and PEV sales mandate) which will be major government measures to further stimulate PEV sales with less fiscal burden.

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  • Ou, Shiqi & Hao, Xu & Lin, Zhenhong & Wang, Hewu & Bouchard, Jessey & He, Xin & Przesmitzki, Steven & Wu, Zhixin & Zheng, Jihu & Lv, Renzhi & Qi, Liang & LaClair, Tim J., 2019. "Light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in China: An overview on the market and its comparisons to the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 747-761.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:112:y:2019:i:c:p:747-761
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2019.06.021
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wu, Yang Andrew & Ng, Artie W. & Yu, Zichao & Huang, Jie & Meng, Ke & Dong, Z.Y., 2021. "A review of evolutionary policy incentives for sustainable development of electric vehicles in China: Strategic implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PB).
    3. Milan Straka & Rui Carvalho & Gijs van der Poel & v{L}ubov{s} Buzna, 2020. "Explaining the distribution of energy consumption at slow charging infrastructure for electric vehicles from socio-economic data," Papers 2006.01672, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2020.
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    5. Shiqi Ou & Wan Li & Jie Li & Zhenhong Lin & Xin He & Jessey Bouchard & Steven Przesmitzki, 2020. "Relationships between Vehicle Pricing and Features: Data Driven Analysis of the Chinese Vehicle Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-25, June.
    6. Rasti-Barzoki, Morteza & Moon, Ilkyeong, 2021. "A game theoretic approach for analyzing electric and gasoline-based vehicles’ competition in a supply chain under government sustainable strategies: A case study of South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Xia Li & Yi Peng & Qiqi He & Hongmei He & Song Xue, 2023. "Development of New-Energy Vehicles under the Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Strategy in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, May.
    8. Sheldon, Tamara L. & Dua, Rubal, 2020. "Effectiveness of China's plug-in electric vehicle subsidy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Hongqing Chu & Wentong Shi & Yuyao Jiang & Bingzhao Gao, 2023. "Driveline Oscillation Damping for Hybrid Electric Vehicles Using Extended-State-Observer-Based Compensator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, May.
    10. Ji, Dandan & Gan, Hongcheng, 2022. "Effects of providing total cost of ownership information on below-40 young consumers’ intent to purchase an electric vehicle: A case study in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    11. Hao, Xu & Lin, Zhenhong & Wang, Hewu & Ou, Shiqi & Ouyang, Minggao, 2020. "Range cost-effectiveness of plug-in electric vehicle for heterogeneous consumers: An expanded total ownership cost approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    12. Phillip K. Agbesi & Rico Ruffino & Marko Hakovirta, 2023. "The development of sustainable electric vehicle business ecosystems," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(8), pages 1-59, August.
    13. Qiu, Y.Q. & Tsan Sheng Ng, Adam & Zhou, P., 2022. "Optimizing urban electric vehicle incentive policy mixes in China: Perspective of residential preference heterogeneity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    14. Liu, Chang & Liu, Yuan & Zhang, Dayong & Xie, Chunping, 2022. "The capital market responses to new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidies: An event study on China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    15. Danhua Ouyang & Xunmin Ou & Qian Zhang & Changgui Dong, 2020. "Factors influencing purchase of electric vehicles in China," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 413-440, March.
    16. Jacobus Nel & Roula Inglesi-Lotz, 2022. "Electric Vehicles Market and Policy Conditions: Identifying South African Policy ``Potholes"," Working Papers 202257, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    17. Shiqi Ou & Rujie Yu & Zhenhong Lin & Huanhuan Ren & Xin He & Steven Przesmitzki & Jessey Bouchard, 2020. "Intensity and daily pattern of passenger vehicle use by region and class in China: estimation and implications for energy use and electrification," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 307-327, March.
    18. Yang, Jue & Chen, Fei, 2020. "How psychological factors related to consumer preferences on plug-in electric passenger vehicles in Chinese cities?A comparison of cities with and without restrictions," MPRA Paper 96165, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Ziwen Ling & Christopher R. Cherry & Yi Wen, 2021. "Determining the Factors That Influence Electric Vehicle Adoption: A Stated Preference Survey Study in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-22, October.
    20. Liwen Shi & Zhonglin Fu & Wei Guo & Jing Zhang & Jiang Sun, 2023. "Exploring the Factors That Promote Sustainable Growth in Regional Sales of New Energy Vehicles: An Empirical Study of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    21. Qin, Yechen & Tang, Xiaolin & Jia, Tong & Duan, Ziwen & Zhang, Jieming & Li, Yinong & Zheng, Ling, 2020. "Noise and vibration suppression in hybrid electric vehicles: State of the art and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    22. Wen, W. & Yang, S. & Zhou, P. & Gao, S.Z., 2021. "Impacts of COVID-19 on the electric vehicle industry: Evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    23. Ou, Yang & Kittner, Noah & Babaee, Samaneh & Smith, Steven J. & Nolte, Christopher G. & Loughlin, Daniel H., 2021. "Evaluating long-term emission impacts of large-scale electric vehicle deployment in the US using a human-Earth systems model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).

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