Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Lithium Drive: China pushes ahead on Electric Cars ilc.v, tnr.v, czx.v, rm.v, lmr.v, abn.v, asm.v, btt.v, bva.v, bvg.v, epz.v, fst.v, gbn.v, hao.v, jnn.v, ks.v, ktn.v, kxm.v, mgn, mxr.v, rvm.to, svb, ura.v, nup.ax, srz.ax, usa.ax



  China is moving fast into the Electric space and, according to some reports, we should be very careful with all mass media games around the Green Energy and Electric Cars. The major game behind the scene now is the security of supply for strategic commodities for the Energy Transition like Lithium, Rare Earths and Copper.


Jim Puplava: Stephen Leeb: Red Alert - Peak Of Everything: Lithium, Rare Earths, Copper, Gold and Silver


  China will not drive the prices with the headlines, but rather will secure technology and commodities, which are necessary for its own future. It is happening on all fronts. Western companies have announced latest deals in Electric auto technology including Daimler, GM, Volkswagen, GE, Hertz and Better Place among other companies. Strategic investments are made by Chinese companies in International Lithium and Rodinia Lithium. Just few weeks ago the deal was announced by BYD in Argentina to built plants for Lithium batteries and Electric Cars.



  Now we have the latest news from China itself and how they are going to push Electric Cars forward. In their case Oil prices and security of Oil supply is extremely important, but another very powerful situation is in play as well. For the urban citizens in China the ability to breath the air which will not kill you is quite important these days. We are very encouraged to see that Shanghai will join Beijing now in providing the opportunity to its citizens to buy Electric Cars without the restrictions and the plates lottery in place for the conventional cars.


IEA: World Energy Outlook 2011: Crude could reach $150 and warns of Irreversible Climate Change in Five Years


"We are just coming out of the "Europe's  End of The World" scenario, all world economies are on the edge of recession, but Oil is moving closer to $100 again. We have a very sobering reminder from IEA about the real issues behind all recent events in the financial markets. There is NOT enough Oil for everybody left, Peak Oil is all about the price and transportation is driving this demand with half of the global oil demand coming from China only. By 2015 more cars will be manufactured outside of OECD. Oil prices can go up to $150 by 2015 in the real terms and $176 in the nominal terms. It will be the major risk for the global economy. Time is to check your Lithium portfolio."

China Briefing

Posted on November 14, 2011 by China Briefing
Nov. 14 – In a move to increase the number of green vehicles on the country’s roads, China is urging new-energy car promotions in 25 major cities. The new regulatory call will likely provide a boost to the green automobile market after the country saw an overall deceleration in car sales partly due to last month’s issuing of a tightened subsidy policy for fuel-efficient car models.

In the “Circular on Promoting the Pilot Demonstration of Fuel-efficient and New-energy Vehicles (caibanjian [2011] No.149)” issued on October 14, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Science and Technology (MST), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) made a joint call for the issuance of local incentives for new-energy cars.

The Circular asks local governments of the 25 cities – included in a pilot scheme for new-energy vehicle promotion since last year – to mull exempting new-energy cars from various restrictions on car purchases and map out new favorable policies, such as allowing lower parking fees, power prices and road tolls.

When the new measures are in place, new-energy car buyers in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Dalian may be offered free license plates, and will be exempt from license plate lottery and traffic restrictions.

In addition, the infrastructure for the use of new-energy cars will be largely improved. The pilot demonstration cities are required to build up sufficient electric charging posts at parking lots for the green cars. By the end of this year, the State Grid will build up 75 charging stations as well as over 6,000 charging posts. The amount of charging stations is projected to surge to 400 by 2016 and 10,000 by 2020, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.

The latest Circular has signaled China’s intention to shift away from the current restrictive policies on vehicle use to a more comprehensive, long-term strategy that takes both the country’s social and economic benefits into consideration.

“Current policies (car bans and car plate bidding) are twisted,” State Council researcher Chen Qingtai pointed out. “Suppressing car demand is not a wise choice. More parking lots, expressways and energy-saving standards should be considered.”

Echoing Chen’s opinions, Ouyang Gaoming, director of the national laboratory of automotive safety and energy at Tsinghua University, specified that light electric vehicles will become the trend over the next decade.

However, the strategic path China is now taking towards green vehicles still shows uncertainty from time to time. Last month, the MoF, NDRC and MIIT tightened their two-year-old subsidy policy on fuel-saving vehicles, making more than 70 percent of the original 427 models ineligible for the subsidies. Partially impacted by the frustrating policy adjustment, China’s passenger vehicle sales in October dropped 4.2 percent from a year earlier, the sharpest year-on-year decline since 2008.

A recent commentary contributed by Liu Yuanyuan on Renewable Energy World.com also noted the unclear road-map for the future development of China’s new-energy vehicle industry. According to Liu, there is still contention among government departments for what the priority should be in the sector: while the MST considers the pure electric vehicles as a priority, the MIIT emphasizes giving equal treatment to both electric cars and hybrids."

Reuters:


China pushes ahead on e-cars; BYD shares soar

By Fang Yan and Alison Leung

BEIJING/HONG KONG | Mon Nov 14, 2011 5:59am EST
(Reuters) - China is pushing ahead with efforts to encourage the development of electric vehicles in the world's largest auto market, boosting shares of Chinese green car maker BYD Co Ltd, which is backed by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, to their best daily gain in 3 years.

But whether China's green initiatives, including allowing potential buyers in Beijing and Shanghai to get electric cars without going through license plate auctions or lotteries, will boost sales of BYD's e6 electric car remains a big question, industry observers say.

"There is a big gap between stock market reaction or expectation and demand in the real world," said Yale Zhang, president of consultancy Automotive Foresight (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

"In the stock market, they can push up shares on perception, but you won't see a lot of electric cars on the road unless they are reliable, safe, convenient to use and not too expensive."

Regulators in Beijing, including the National Development and Reform Commission, issued a joint statement late last week, calling for its 25 pilot cities to draw up plans to push EV sales which also include installing charging facilities and charging spots at individual users' neighborhoods, among others.

Strong demand for cars would be released if potential buyers who did not receive a license to buy a car were able to purchase electric cars, said Daiwa Securities analyst Jeff Chung.

SLUGGISH SALES

Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD rose more than 26 percent on Monday.

A tiny green car and auto parts maker Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd, controlled by exiled Chinese tycoon Yang Rong, also saw it shares jump 29 percent, despite skepticism on the industry's largely untested technology, especially on car batteries.

Still, BYD shares are down about 50 percent from the end of 2010 because of the company's poor auto sales and earnings.

Shares of Hybrid Kinetic, which planned to produce low-cost clean-technology auto parts in China to allow local car makers to sell green vehicles at conventional car prices, has also lost about half of their value this year compared with a 15 percent fall on the broader market.

"The upside for BYD should be limited," said Daiwa's Chung, adding that BYD's e-6 electric car would account for about 2 percent of the company's production capacity next year.

Government policy would favor the development of electric cars, but the real pick-up in sales would not start until late 2012 or 2013, he added.

Beijing has declared the electric vehicle industry a top priority, earmarking $1.5 billion a year for the next 10 years to transform the country into one of the leading producers of clean vehicles.

It also handpicked 25 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, to lead the migration to green vehicles.

But, so far, customers remain unimpressed by the high cost and limited journey range of the vehicles and a lack of charging infrastructure.

In Shanghai, a huge metropolis with more than 20 million people, there are only 10 registered electric cars, while the number in Hangzhou is only slightly higher at 25, according to China Business News.

(Editing by Chris Lewis and Muralikumar Anantharaman)"
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