Shanghai hybrid, electric cars get road test

Nine alternative-energy vehicles departed from Shanghai on Wednesday to begin a cross-country test tour as Shanghai has been actively promoting the development of alternative-energy vehicles.

The new energy vehicles were independently developed by SAIC Motor Corp.

They include the Roewe 550 PLUG-IN hybrid car, the Roewe E50 pure electric car and the Roewe 750 fuel-powered car.

The trip will help examine these new energy vehicles' adaptabilities in various environments, climate and road conditions as well as component performance.

"In Tibet, for example, we can collect data about these new energy vehicles' performance in such high altitude and oxygen-deprived areas. This will help pave the way for commercializing new energy vehicles in the future," said Huang Chendong, deputy general manager at New Energy Vehicle and Technique Management Division of SAIC Motor.

The three-month long campaign will tour 25 cities from 14 provinces and autonomous regions in China, and the vehicles will travel about 10,000 kilometers.

The trip has been divided into north and south travelling lines. The south line starting from Shanghai will tour Hangzhou, Nanchang, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Kunming and end in Chengdu. The north line trip kicked off on August 22 from Tibet, and it will tour Nanjing, Qingdao, Dalian and Tangshan, and end in Beijing. Huang said these new energy vehicles have run good so far during the trip along the north line.

SAIC Motor plans to invest 250 million yuan ($40.71 million) within five years for the research and development of key technologies such as fuel cells. And by 2015, it will complete a hundred-scale vehicle production.

"We are looking for proper ways for China to develop new energy vehicles. So far, we have established R&D platforms for new energy vehicles, and accumulated extensive experiences. This will help our country to promote new energy vehicle industry's development," said Gan Pin, an official from Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.

The city plans to launch about 13,000 new energy cars by 2015, according to the commission.

wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn