China Pushes Back Against "Blind" Electric Vehicle Growth

The world’s worst polluter is pushing back against "blind" electric vehicle growth. You can’t make this up, folks.

Not that China worries about bad press – authoritarian control is more important – but this is pretty astounding.

On Friday, Meng Wei, spokeswoman with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told reporters that “At present, new energy vehicle technology is improving very quickly, and the scale of the market is gradually expanding, but there are also indications of blind development.”

The state promised to “adjust industry entry thresholds, strengthen corporate responsibility and improve government supervision to help bring order to the sector.”

The People’s Republic leads the world in several green metrics, including solar capacity, and the country already sold 328,000 new energy vehicles (NEV) this year. But with 355 different NEVs on the market, China doesn’t like the market instability (a.k.a., a lack of federal control). According to Reuters, which quotes execs from China’s auto industry, government subsidies have resulted in “overcapacity and inefficiency.”

I’m seriously baffled – eco-warriors in this country would kill for that kind of EV propagation.

Read more here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-autos/china-vows-action-against-blind-electric-vehicle-growth-idUSKBN1JB16L