China’s Electric Vehicle Deployment: Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts

Feiqi Liu, Fuquan Zhao, Zongwei Liu and Han Hao
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Feiqi Liu: State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Fuquan Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Zongwei Liu: State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Han Hao: State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: The explosion of the vehicle market in China has caused a series of problems, like energy security, climate change, air pollution, etc. The deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) is considered an effective solution to address these problems. Thus, both the state and local governments in China have launched some policies and incentives to accelerate the development of EVs and the EV industry. Do EVs can effectively solve these problems in short term, viewed from the fleet point? Based on China’s most up-to-date deployment plan for EVs, this paper analyzes the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by China’s road transport sector in three different scenarios. The results indicate that, based on current planning, the energy consumption and GHG emissions of the whole fleet will peak in 2025 and 2027, at the level of around 403 mtoe (million tons of oil equivalent) and 1763 mt CO 2 eq. (million tons of CO 2 equivalent), respectively. The introduction of EVs will significantly reduce the reliance on fossil fuel in the long term, with increasing ownership, while, in the short term, the fuel economy regulation will still play a more important role. Policy makers should continually pay attention to this. Meanwhile, commercial vehicles, especially heavy-duty trucks will account for a bigger and bigger proportion in the energy consumption and GHG emissions of the whole fleet. Thus, to some extent the focus should shift from passenger vehicles to commercial vehicles. More measures could be implemented.

Keywords: electric vehicle; energy consumption; greenhouse gas emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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