【英语中国】中国对混合动力车关注不足

After 16 months of waiting for a permit to register a car in the capital, a Beijing resident surnamed Cao bought a Lexus CT200h gasoline-electric hybrid last year. He put down a hefty 300,000 yuan ($48,000) figuring he would at least make a small contribution to keeping the city's already woefully polluted air from getting worse. And he figured he would be able to recover the additional costs in five to six years with his savings on fuel and maintenance costs.

But Mr. Cao is still part of a very small minority of hybrid-car owners in China. Hybrids have taken a back seat to electric cars in the race to find an environmentally friendly alternative to the gasoline engine.

For one, the government gives a subsidy of about 60,000 yuan toward an electric-car purchase. For hybrids, there isn't much except for a small allowance on those with an engine smaller than 1.6 liters - and that little bit of generosity is also available for purchases of cars with smaller gasoline engines.

More than 8.6 million vehicles were sold in the first half of this year in China, the world's biggest auto market, and the gasoline engine was the overwhelming favorite. In fact, only a paltry 5,114 electric vehicles were sold in the same period - mostly taxis and buses. For hybrids, the tally was even less significant.

'Many people don't even know that hybrid cars don't require a plug-in recharge,' said Mr. Cao. 'You can see how little publicity there has been.'

Beijing's indifference to hybrids is clear. In a series of development plans and incentives for a 'green' car industry, priority has always been given to pure electric cars that require a plug-in. But now some voices in the auto sector are speaking up for hybrids.

The China Association of Automobile Manufactures is one organization that wants to see more attention given to the hybrid segment of the market. 'Faced with increasing energy and pollution problems, hybrid technology deserves a lot more government and industry support,' Dong Yang, CAAM's secretary general, told a forum in Beijing last week.

Progress in expanding the use of electric vehicles in China has been slow due to technical constraints on batteries, a lack of recharging stations and high product costs.

Hybrid cars - which don't need an external recharging unit, since they recharge as they are being driven - don't depend on the construction of a support infrastructure, said Mr. Dong.

Additionally, prices are also more acceptable. Toyota7203.TO +0.48%'s Prius, the Japanese hybrid pioneer with some of the latest hybrid technology, is sold for about 260,000 yuan while Chinese auto maker BYD's electric vehicle E6 is at about 320,000 yuan.

The government isn't entirely convinced that hybrids are the road to the future, however.

'There is still considerable debate over the usefulness of hybrid technology,' said Su Huaishan, an official with the machinery-industry department under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 'That has affected the ability of the industry and the government to reach a consensus,' said Mr. Su, adding that such disagreement has blocked more substantial incentives.

Some people contend the hybrid is just based on transitional technology while electric cars should be the ultimate goal. Mr. Su said opponents say that since China lags in hybrid technology, it might be better to just skip this phase of development and go straight to electric technology.

Toyota has achieved global-scale production of hybrid cars, with it has been followed by a growing number of other players including Honda, Ford, Volkswagen and General Motors.

Chinese automakers including SAIC Motor Co, FAW Group Corp., Dongfeng Motor Corp. and Changan Motor Corp, have also launched hybrid products in China. As of the end of April, 28 Chinese hybrid models and 13 imported hybrid models had been registered to go on sale in China, according to data from CAAM.

'The hybrid is not just a transitional gadget. It's an upgrade from conventional technology and it's in line with China's emission-reduction policy,' said Mr. Dong.

In an auto-industry development plan for the 2012-2020 period, Beijing ordered auto makers in China to reduce average fuel consumption for passenger vehicles to 6.9 liters per 100 km by 2015 and to 5 liters by 2020.

Tsinghua University professor Zhao Fuquan, a former executive with Geely Automobile Co., contends that the goal could be reached but the government needs to stick to these targets and make auto makers comply.

'Companies are reluctant to invest in hybrid technology because they are not under enough pressure to do so,' he said.

Meanwhile, some in the auto sector see the hybrid as playing a more important role, particularly if there is a helping hand from the state.

'We are able to reach the 2015 goal on conventional cars but it's almost impossible to reach the 2020 goals without using hybrid technology,' said FAW Group Corp.'s senior engineer Tian Hongfu.

'Companies need to consider costs, so we hope the government will help in the beginning, providing some subsidies and cultivating public environmental awareness,' he said. 'We can rely on the market later.'

在等了16个月才摇到号后，北京一位曹（音）姓居民去年购买了一辆雷克萨斯(Lexus) CT200h油电混合动力车。他支付了高达人民币30万元的首付，认为自己至少能为防止北京已经十分严重的空气污染问题恶化做出一点贡献。他认为，未来五到六年他节省的燃油和保养成本将能够抵消为这辆混合动力车支付的溢价。

Associated Press上海国际汽车工业展，一位参观者正在研究参展奥迪A8 L混合动力车的发动机。但像曹先生这样的混合动力车车主在中国依然为数不多。在寻找汽油发动机的环保替代品的运动中，混合动力车相对电动车处于次要地位。

一方面，中国政府为购买电动车的人提供人民币6万元左右的补贴。但是对于混合动力车来说，则没有这样优厚的补贴，只是可以享受针对发动机排量在1.6升以下汽车的较小的补贴政策，而购买排量较小的汽油动力车也能获得这样的补贴。

今年上半年全球最大的汽车市场中国的汽车销量超过了860万辆，汽油发动机汽车仍最受青睐。实际上，同期电动车销量只有5,114辆，大多为出租车和客车。而混合动力车的销量就更小。

曹先生说，许多人甚至都不知道混合动力车不需要外部充电，可见宣传做得很少。

中国政府显然并不重视混合动力车。为打造“绿色”汽车行业而采取的一系列发展规划和刺激措施中，需要充电的纯电动车一直处于优先地位。但现在汽车行业内的一些声音开始支持混合动力车。

中国汽车工业协会(China Association of Automobile Manufactures)就希望混合动力车领域能受到更大的关注。该协会秘书长董扬上周在北京一个论坛上说，面对日益加剧的能源和污染问题，混合动力技术应获得更多政府和行业支持。

在中国，扩大电动车使用的进展一直较为缓慢，因为电池技术存在局限，而且充电站配备不足，产品成本较高。

董扬说，混合动力车不需要外部充电设备，因为是在行驶过程中进行充电，不必依赖支持性设施的建设。

此外，混合动力车的价格也更容易接受。丰田汽车(Toyota)的普锐斯(Prius)（日本混合动力车的先驱，使用了一些最新的混合动力技术）售价在人民币26万元左右，而中国汽车制造商比亚迪(BYD)的电动车E6售价在人民币32万元左右。

但政府并不完全确信混合动力车是未来的解决之道。

中国工业和信息化部装备工业司的苏怀山说，围绕混合动力技术的有用性的争议还很大。他说，这影响到行业和政府达成一致的能力，这种分歧也对实施更大力度的刺激构成阻碍。

一些人认为，混合动力车只是基于过渡性技术的产品，而电动车才应该是最终的目标。苏怀山说，反对者说，鉴于中国已经在混合动力车技术方面落后，跳过这一阶段，直接发展电动车技术可能是更好的选择。

丰田已经实现在全球量产混合动力车，本田(Honda)、福特(Ford)、大众(Volkswagen)和通用汽车(General Motors)等越来越多的其他汽车制造商也纷纷紧随其后。

上汽集团(SAIC Motor Co.)、中国第一汽车集团公司(China FAW Group co.)、东风汽车公司(Dongfeng Motor co.)和长安汽车(Changan Motor co.)等中国汽车制造商也已在中国推出了混合动力车。据中国汽车工业协会的数据，截至4月底，已有28款国产混合动力车和13款进口混合动力车获得上市许可。

董扬说，混合动力车不单单是一个过渡产品，它是传统技术的升级，并且能满足中国的减排政策。

在2012-2020年汽车业发展规划中，中国政府要求中国汽车制造商到2015年将乘用车平均燃料消耗量降至6.9升/100公里，到2020年降至5升/100公里。

清华大学教授、吉利汽车(Geely Automobile Co.)前高管赵福全认为，这些目标是可以实现的，但政府需要坚持这些目标，同时让汽车制造商遵循这些目标。

他说，企业不愿投资混合动力技术，因为他们没有足够的压力去这样做。

与此同时，汽车行业一些人士认为混合动力车起到的作用越来越大，如果能获得政府的支持，其作用将会尤其突出。

一汽集团的高级工程师田洪福说，我们可以依靠传统汽车实现2015年的目标，但如果不采用混合动力车技术，则几乎无法实现2020年的目标。

他说，企业需要考虑成本，所以我们希望政府能在初期给予支持，提供一些补贴，并培养公众的环保意识，之后我们就可以依赖市场需求了。