Hainan to popularize clean energy vehicles since 2020

China's southern island province of Hainan recently urged transport authorities at different levels to continue their efforts on popularizing clean energy vehicles in transportation domain in a bid to fulfill an annual action plan issue earlier this month.

According to a notice released by Hainan Provincial Transport Department, the buses, taxis and cars for ride-hailing services newly deployed or replaced in 2020 should use all clean energy. 

Of those, the so-called NEVs (referring to BEVs, PHEVs, REEVs and FCEVs in China) should account for no less than 90% of buses and for 100% as to vehicles of hourly car rental service. The share of clean energy vehicles should be at least 20% for urban-rural passenger buses and tourist buses.

Local transport authorities of cities and counties are required to perfect a mechanism on the phase-out of fuel-burning taxis, so as to make taxis fully powered by clean energy—except for vehicles for special purposes—by the end of 2020. Besides, they need hammer out relevant policies to uphold sound development of hourly car rental service.

As part of efforts to improve the construction of NEV charging and battery swapping facilities, Hainan will strive to newly build six or more service areas available for EV charging.

The provincial authority will instruct transport departments at lower levels to boost the building of charging facilities at urban passenger terminals, public transport hubs, taxi operation centers, urban & rural bus parking lots and maintenance shops, etc., according to an official from the Hainan Provincial Transport Department.

Hainan will ban the sale of gasoline-fueled automobiles by 2030, in a bid to safeguard its environment and develop a modern economy, the provincial government said in March 2019, and became the first province in China that unveiled a timeline for such plan.