CLIMATE SPECTATOR: China flicks the EV switch

China's first switchable EV Experience Centre sends a strong signal to the global market about the rapid emergence of electric cars and infrastructure worldwide. But what does it mean for Australia?

By Alison Terry ·
21 Dec 2011

Climate Spectator

On Monday last week, a Switchable Electric Car Experience Centre was officially opened in China's third largest city – the Pearl River New Town of Guangzhou. The center is a joint project between Better Place and China Southern Grid, China's second largest utility and the eighth largest utility worldwide.

The Experience Center is the first of its kind in southern China, and is modelled on the successful Better Place Centers in Israel and Denmark. The 1,900m2 Center is designed to showcase the benefits of affordable electric cars with switchable batteries to government officials, industry leaders, Chinese consumers and international delegations.

The opening marked Guangzhou as the starting point for EV network infrastructure in the five southern provinces served by CSG. To put that into context, CSG serves 230 million people over an area only slightly bigger than the entire state of NSW. If only 1 per cent of the population switch to an electric car, that's 2.3 million sales. That figure is twice the size of the entire annual new car market in Australia.