China's Ministry of Science and Technology has chosen Beijing to serve as the pilot city for an ambitious program designed to someday make the country the world's leader in electric vehicle adoption and manufacturing.
Next year, Beijing's municipal government will offer subsidies of ¥3000 per kilowatt-hour of battery capacity on electric vehicles sold within the city. The subsidies max out at ¥60,000, meaning that coupled with the central government's ¥60,000 incentives, consumers in the city will be eligible for a discount of up to ¥120,000 on a new plug-in—that's more than $18,000.
Five other Chinese cities—Shanghai, Hangzhou, Changchun, Shenzhen and Hefei—are also planning to offer similar incentives, though Beijing will act as a test city for those programs.
In addition to private vehicle rebates, Beijing will offer subsidies of up to 30 percent toward the purchase and installation of charging stations. The city hopes to install at least 36,000 charging stations within the next three years, including 100 fast charging and battery-swapping stations.
In all, Beijing's municipal government said it aims to have 30,000 electric vehicles on its roads by 2012.
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