Is China becoming the new California? How nation’s smog-choked cities are reshaping car design worldwide
China already has 30 electric car models - compared to just a handful in the US - but expects to have 80 by 2020. As such, global car makers are increasingly churning out hybrids and plug-ins, and dovetailing their products to the demands of Beijing and the Chinese public
California grabbed the lead a few years ago in establishing fuel-efficiency standards to clean up urban smog. Now, as China struggles with its air-pollution crisis, Beijing increasingly influences the models and technology Detroit, Europe and Japan sell around the world.
In response to government rules and incentives that have spurred electric-car sales in China, automakers are beefing up their global electric-vehicle and plug-in offerings.
General Motors plans to make a plug-in hybrid version of every Cadillac model. Ford Motor has budgeted US$4.5 billion to develop 13 new EVs and plug-in hybrids by 2020, and China is a big reason for both automakers.
Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz is selling five plug-ins in China, two of which also sell in the US. Similarly, BMW AG is engineering plug-in hybrids it sells worldwide to meet China’s electric-drive mandates.
“Originally we started with California rules, so the starting point for us was clearly the US,” said Klaus Froehlich, BMW’s global head of product development.
“Now, China is a key market. It is very important and the regulations are quite difficult.”
