China Must Lead the Way - 3/12/09

Booming cities like Moscow and Bangkok have no where to park; their streets look more like parking lots than streets.  We must start transforming vehicles, fuels, and current ideas of mobility or our environment will get worse.

The world now has over 1 billion vehicles and experts believe we will see 2 billion in 20 years.  While the world slows down during this recession the desire for personal vehicles will continue at a growing pace.

America leads the world in auto ownership.  As other parts of the world get richer, private car use will increase more so in China and India.  Beijing adds 1,500 cars to its roads every day.  Over the last ten years China has tripled its vehicle fleet to 45 million and India has doubled to 15 million. In January 2009 more cars were sold in China than the U.S. for the first time ever.

If we continue to use conventional vehicles and using conventional fuel, this will lead to an environmental disaster.  We must develop cleaner and more efficient ways of transportation.  This is very important in China.

The countries that bring these innovations to the marketplace first will stand to gain economically.  Hopefully China with its limited oil resources and polluted cities will be the first to lead this movement.

China is the most innovative country in the world.  New technologies like the electric two wheeled cycles are becoming very successful with sales over 15 million in China in 2007.  The air quality benefits for China may lead the way for three and four wheeled vehicles and low cost battery technology.  Chinese automakers are developing new ferrous batteries that could be cheaper than lithium-ion or nickel metal hydride batteries.  Another benefit is they can be charged in 10 minutes. 

China’s government is imposing fuel standards on vehicles which are more aggressive than those in America.  China is also giving tax benefits in favor of more fuel efficient cars.

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