With conditions forcing drivers to use headlights by mid-day, Beijing has become a frightening image of a society overrun by air pollution, and the adoption of EVs may not happen fast enough.
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Beijing’s authorities ordered limits on cars, factories and construction sites during a red alert for smog from Tuesday through to midday on Thursday.
That was good news for the electric auto industry. Also, the government subsidies that would help them save around 100,000 yuan ($15,560) on a new electric model have been prompting the consumers to make purchases.
Yang Lei, marketing manager at Beijing Electric Vehicle Co, whose backers include BAIC Motor (1958.HK) and the city government, said staff worked with marketing agencies on Sunday, when Beijing was under an “orange alert”, on how to promote sales of its electric cars tied to the pollution.
But the first-ever red alert over Beijing smog highlights the dilemma for leaders of whether to sacrifice economic activity at a time of already sagging growth to curb pollution. “You can smell a bad air day here the moment you wake up”. BYD, the Chinese EV maker backed by Berkshire Hathaway, had an advertising campaign based on a lower level of pollution warnings that it ran when the red alert hit the city. Electricity generation, though still powered largely by coal in China, does offer a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as recent studies about EV use in America’s dirtiest grids confirm.
Though this latest smog crisis was mostly traceable to coal burning, cars remain the chief culprit in fouling China’s air.
“Even though EV adoption in China might increase local emissions”, the experts explain, “global emissions from automobiles could nevertheless plausibly decrease as a result of increased development and adoption of EV technology worldwide”.
And China is on track to overtake the U.S. as the largest market for electric cars.
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“Recently, the smog is so serious that people aren’t willing to go outside, so they call us to ask”, said Li Hui, owner of several BYD dealerships, which focus on environmentally friendly cars.
