On 26 November 2012, GIZ and German Industry and Commerce (AHK) jointly held the Workshop on Electro-Mobility in China: Challenges and Opportunities for German Enterprises at the Kempinski Hotel, Beijing. The workshop was hosted by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) represented by Deputy Head Division IV C 4, Environmental Innovations, Electro-Mobility, Mr Dirk Arnold.
At the workshop, Chinese and international experts from the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre (CATARC), McKinsey, the German Institute for Norms (DIN), BMW, GIZ, and the AHK informed small and medium-sized companies in the field of Electro-Mobility of the latest developments in the Sino-German cooperation on electro-mobility as well as access and barriers to the Chinese market for electric vehicles (EV). The main conclusions of the workshop are as follows:
- Both Germany as well as China cooperate closely to foster electro-mobility and have each committed to tangible EV market penetration targets. China is devoted to an ambitious EV plan that aims to put 500,000 units on the street by 2015 and 5 million by 2020. Germany, strives to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020.
- As battery electric vehicles are not yet competitive in terms of utility, range, and price, certain EV applications, such as plug-in hybrids and vehicles with a range extender, are likely to shape the short to long term of electro-mobility in China.
- Harmonised standards (for instance in the area of EV charging and safety) are needed to make electro-mobility safe and convenient. China and Germany cooperate closely in the international alignment of such standards.
- Electric vehicles have a significant potential to reduce total oil consumption in the transport sector as well as reduce greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions. This depends, however, first and foremost on the energy carriers and the share of renewable energies used to charge EVs.
- All in all, the strong political commitment to electro-mobility and ambitious EV sales goals render this sector a hot market for the future.
