China EV Drives the Market...

China plays a huge part in driving the future EV Marketplace. China accounted for 60% of the 1.3 million electric cars sold globally last year.

Second only to Tesla in sales numbers there is a company you almost certainly haven’t heard of …. BJEV, founded in 2009, is a unit of state-controlled Beijing ­Automotive Group, or BAIC Group, one of China’s biggest auto­makers. Here are some numbers to illustrate what is going on…

Now things are about to change and China is ratcheting back the subsidies it offers for home grown manufacturers and car buyers and encouraging more international involvement in the marketplace. Last year, for example, by far the best selling electric car in China was an econobox from BJEV called the EC, sold for about $8,000 after subsidies about half the price of what it would be sold at normally without the subsidies.

China’s Society of Automotive Engineers has said 40% of passenger-vehicle sales should be electrics or plug-in hybrids by 2030. Behind China’s ambition are three strategic goals: combating pollution, curbing oil imports, and building competitive electric-car firms. 

BJEV has seen the future and is investing in international talent and input for their new models which they intend to much more upmarket and taking on the imported brands at all levels.

A senior analyst with the China Automobile Dealers Association, said: "BAIC has made progress in new-energy technologies through strategic cooperation with Daimler Group. The future electric cars are going to be built with technologies from the platform for Mercedes-Benz cars. The ideal situation could be that BAIC and Daimler share the platform for premium products.

Let’s wait and see what comes next from BJEV and in fact from all the Chinese home grown brands because for-sure it will be important for the future, not only of the Chinese market but for the whole EV marketplace.

A showroom for BJEV, the biggest maker of pure electrics in China. ImagineChina