6 Chinese, American enterprises establish new-energy vehicle alliance

Only 10 days after the establishment of the electric vehicle alliance by China's central state-owned enterprises, the "Sustainable New-Energy International Alliance" was officially established by enterprises including IBM, U.S.-based Eaton's Electrical Group and Foton Motors on Aug. 28. This signifies that competition in the domestic new-energy vehicle sector will start to intensify.

The "Sustainable New-Energy International Alliance" currently has six members consisting of three American and three Chinese enterprises. Of them, IBM will specialize in developing a sustainable transportation network information system, integrating and managing an intelligent power grid and researching the sustainable transportation strategy and business mode.

Aecom will be responsible for the design and development of sustainable transportation infrastructure as well as project management. Eaton's will specialize in the business of the vehicle power system, charging stations connecting with the intelligent power grid, storage battery services and battery management.

Foton Motor will be responsible for designing and producing new-energy vehicles and CITIC Guoan Mengguli (MGL) will specialize in supplying lithium batteries and energy storage systems. Broad-Ocean Motors will be responsible for supplying traction motors and electric motor control systems.

On Aug. 18, 16 central state-owned enterprises established an electric vehicle alliance. Earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers had organized 10 vehicle makers to establish the "Top 10 Electric Vehicle Alliance" in China's automobile industry. The "Sustainable New-Energy International Alliance" is the first new-energy vehicle alliance in China that is beyond the limitation of countries and regions.

According to industry insiders, the successive establishment of alliances means that enterprises are eager to take the lead in the emerging new-energy vehicle sector. Fu Yuwu, deputy director-general of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, said that this is a battle in which every player cannot afford to lose the competition. If multinational companies do not prepare for when the electric vehicle era comes, they will likely be phased out, he said.

By People's Daily Online