Made-in-China Electric Vehicles to Enter MarketChinese scientists and engineers recently announced that thanks to some important technological breakthroughs, electric vehicles made in China will soon be sold on a large scale.Problems with batteries, motors, and electric control systems were three main obstacles in the development, but these problems have now been solved, said Huang Jiateng, head of group of state experts specializing in electric vehicles. Sources indicate that engineers have developed a type of lithium battery that can allow a car to operate for 300 kilometers and sustain top speed of 120 kilometers an hour. A specially designed battery based on new nano materials can be used for more than 10 years and can be fully recharged within 10 minutes. In addition, momentous innovations have been made on the motors and electric control system, said sources. Due to the short history of car manufacturing, China will face a lighter burden during the transition from traditional auto industry to the one based on electricity, said Li Peigen, professor with Central China University of Science and Technology. In the field of electric vehicles, Chinese engineers are close to the world advanced level and have even taken leading positions in some areas, said the professor. The Chinese government wants families to buy cars and domestic auto producers to expand their market share. Since the late 1980s, the government has spent 300 million yuan (36 million U.S. dollars) in research on environmentally friendly autos which use electricity. China sees the development of electric vehicles as a chance to breach the gap between its auto industry and those of advanced countries, and the Ministry of Science and Technology has set this growth as a main goal over the next five years. |
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