Shenzhen’s all-electric bus fleet is a world’s first that comes with massive government funding
- The city’s 16,000 e-buses cost more than US$1 billion a year for the central and local governments
In China’s accelerated drive to replace petrol-engined cars with battery-powered vehicles, Shenzhen has secured not just a front seat in the mainland, but also a world’s first as the only city with an entire bus fleet that runs on electricity.
At the end of 2017, the city operated more than 16,000 electric buses and by the end of this year, all 13,000 taxis would be electric vehicles (EV).
Shenzhen’s claim to fame is a result of heavy Chinese government policy and funding support – namely subsidies to public transport companies.
Its success bodes well for Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” industrial strategy in which new-energy vehicles and EVs – passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles – are a key area of focus, with the ambition to produce 3 million cars by 2025 among other targets.
Yet, extending Shenzhen’s experiment to replicate in other mainland Chinese cities look uncertain as the central government plans to withdraw subsidies by 2020, funding that has fuelled rapid EV sales growth since 2014 and making China the world’s biggest EV market.