By John Gartner
China is likely to become the world's largest market for plug-in electric vehicles thanks to a larger relative government investment, but will trail the U.S. in hybrid sales.
The Chinese government announced it will spend $14.7 billion through 2020 on alternative drivetrain vehicles, with the bulk of the money going towards all-electric vehicles, according to news reports quoted by Edmunds.com's Green Car Advisor.
That's a greater outlay in consumer subsidies, industry incentives and spending on charging infrastructure than in the U.S., which (for now) boasts a much larger economy. The Chinese government would like 5 million alternative fuel vehicles to be on its roads by 2020.
The U.S. government has committed more than $2.5 billion in incentives for battery makers, consumer purchases, and for charging infrastructure, but won't come close to the Chinese commitment in the coming years. Not all of that money is bearing fruit. The DOE gave A123 Systems a $249 million grant last year to manufacture lithium ion batteries in Michigan, ostensibly for electric vehicles under contract to Chrysler. Last week A123 Systems ended its work with Chrysler and is now focusing more on batteries that provide energy storage for the grid.
Read More... [Source: HybridCars.com]
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