China, Germany on fast track in NEV cooperation

The southern Chinese coastal city of Haikou, where the 2023 World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC) concluded on Dec. 9, witnessed a promising cooperation between China and Germany, as China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry goes on the fast track.

The rise of the industry in China was well demonstrated at the congress held in Haikou, the provincial capital of Hainan Province, after its first overseas session in Munich in September.

China remains a driving force in developing electric vehicles, with one out of every two electric vehicles worldwide being found in China, said Timur Gül, chief energy technology officer of the International Energy Agency (IEA), during the congress.

When IEA released its global EV outlook in 2016, China had more than 300,000 EVs. The number is expected to reach 20 million as of this October, according to Gül.

"This success story of the EV is also a Chinese success story driven by innovation, government ambitions, and supporting policies," he stressed, adding that in the field of electric vehicles, the huge development potential of the Chinese market is remarkable.

According to the data released by the 2023 WNEVC, the sales of NEVs in China constituted 29.8 percent of the country's total new car sales in the first three quarters of 2023. The cumulative global sales of NEVs were approximately 37.7 million units as of the end of September, with China accounting for about 60 percent.

"This achievement is a testament to effective government policies combined with the auto industry's collective efforts -- and has opened up a whole new marketplace for carmakers," said Jochen Goller, a member of the board of management of BMW AG.

"Being BMW Group's largest single market and obviously one of its most strategic, we truly feel at home in China. The BMW Group has made China its largest production base worldwide, the home to our company's largest R&D and innovation network outside of Germany," he said via video.

The latest edition marked his fifth consecutive year participating in the WNEVC, and he also attended the 2023 WNEVC IAA Mobility in Munich in September.

Previously, BMW partnered with Huayou Recycling, a company in east China's Zhejiang Province, creating a closed loop to reuse raw materials from high voltage batteries retired from BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) electric vehicles.

Compared with using newly extracted primary material, this closed-loop cycle not only conserves resources but also reduces carbon emissions by 70 percent.

Until now, over 1,000 tonnes of secondary materials have been recovered by Huayou and used for the production of BMW electric cars.

"Both Europe and China are currently developing calculation methods to determine the carbon footprint of high-voltage batteries. We need to work together to create internationally harmonized and recognized standards -- for the benefit of both sides," Goller remarked.

Also seeing opportunities in China's NEV market, Ralf Brandstätter, a member of the board of management of Volkswagen Group, revealed that the Volkswagen Group will further exploit the great growth potential of the Chinese market in the future but also use China's innovative strength to drive forward the group's transformation.

The Volkswagen Group aspires to expand the range of fully electric vehicles to at least 30 models by 2030, according to Brandstätter.

In the following years, the Volkswagen Group will invest more than 7.5 billion yuan (about 1.05 billion U. S. dollars) in east China's Anhui Province. The Volkswagen Group China Technology Company will be the group's largest development center outside Germany.

This new company will be integrated into the high-tech cluster of companies and scientific research centers in Hefei, the capital of Anhui, with a clear and exclusive focus on developing state-of-the-art ICV (Intelligent Connected Vehicle) models.

During the 2023 WNEVC, Volkswagen Group China and the Hainan government signed a framework agreement to strengthen and expand existing collaboration.

The agreement covers mobility services, enhanced cooperation on vocational education, participation in the China International Consumer Products Expo, and future marketing collaborations.

"We are excited to embark on this new chapter of mutually beneficial collaboration with Hainan Province and together take advantage of the many opportunities provided by Hainan Free Trade Port," said Liu Yunfeng, executive vice president of Volkswagen Group China.