“Xiao AI, show me the route to Tiananmen,” Fu Hailin orders his vehicle’s AI assistant. Fu, 30, bought his first car in April, a Xiaomi SU7 Founders Editionof which only 5,000 units exist. His “big toy,” as he defines it, is one of the first 800 that was delivered. “At first I felt very special, everyone was looking at me. Now you see more [coches] Xiaomi on the streets of Beijing; On the way I crossed paths with two others,” he says with a smile from ear to ear. Sounds If I had met you before by Karol G and a Pikachu doll watches from the glove compartment.
In China’s large cities, the debate no longer revolves around whether to purchase an electric vehicle (EV), whether pure electric or plug-in hybrids, but rather about which brand and model best suits the needs of the consumer. The transition towards clean energy cars is a fact in the metropolises of the Asian giant: in 2023, more than half of the EVs on the entire planet were circulating on Chinese roads, according to the latest report from the International Energy Organization (OIE).
Plug-in cars are part of China’s ambitious commitment to leading the change towards ecological sustainability. The communist nation is the largest producer and exporter of cars in the world and is setting standards in the automotive sector thanks to the unstoppable rise of its EVs, which for decades have benefited from subsidies and tax exemptions.
Although Beijing assures that its industry is the result of independent innovation, many governments are imposing trade restrictions due to what they consider a violation of competition rules. Since the end of October, Chinese cars must pay taxes of up to 35.3% upon arrival at European Union customs. Against this backdrop, the Chinese delegation has asked to include in the COP29 agenda to address “unilateral restrictive measures” which, in its view, “[tienen] disproportionate adverse effects for developing countries.”
“It is much cheaper than a gasoline car,” Fu emphasizes. In Beijing, recharging costs between 10 and 20 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, depending on the time zone (at night it is cheaper). “I usually connect it in the public area under my building. I charge it once a week, if it has less than 10% battery, and pay about 70 yuan [nueve euros]”he explains.
“Xiao AI, show me the nearest charging stations,” Fu asks, and six destinations within a kilometer radius immediately appear on the navigation screen. “They are everywhere,” he emphasizes. As of the end of September, China had 11.43 million electric vehicle charging facilities, with a ratio of 2.46 cars per station, according to the National Energy Administration.
Shanghai is the city with the most green cars in the world, more than 1.2 million, almost 20% of the total number of cars in the megalopolis, according to the Municipal Commerce Commission. At the national level, they are followed by Shenzhen, with one million (penetration exceeds 25%), and Beijing, with 900,000 vehicles (14%), according to local media. To put these figures in perspective, at the end of 2023, there were 466,178 plug-in cars throughout Spain, according to the Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Mobility (Aedive).
The OIE estimates that 10 million electric vehicles will be sold in China by 2024. There are two million more than in 2023, and their sales will represent 45% of total automobile purchases nationwide. In comparison, the organization estimates that, in Europe, one in four cars sold will be electric and, in the United States, one in nine.
Although progress is rapid, to achieve the total electrification of a territory as vast as China, and with a population that exceeds 1.4 billion people, there is still a long way to go. In July, EVs barely represented 7% of the country’s 345 million private cars, the Xinhua news agency reported at the time.
Fu lets go of the steering wheel. “Don’t worry, autonomous driving mode is extremely safe.” Everything around us appears on the screen in real time: it detects whether it is an anonymous pedestrian or a police officer; whether it is a cone or a traffic sign. The car itself overtakes a swarm of electric motorcycles. They are part of the city’s usual decor and a symbol of the transformation of the Asian giant’s mobility in the last decade, but also of the frenetic pace of digital consumerism. Its presence currently exceeds that of automobiles, with 350 million units throughout the nation, according to the People’s newspaper.
“I think the future is for cars to drive completely on their own,” says Fu. The AI features are, in fact, the reason you chose your Xiaomi. Like many of his compatriots, he prefers a Chinese model because the levels of user interaction are much higher. “It’s like a smartphone on wheels, it’s updated every month. In this half year, it has improved up to four times,” he says enthusiastically. “Once I understood what it is capable of doing and what it cannot do autonomously, it doesn’t scare me.”
“Many people choose Tesla for Elon Musk, I choose Xiaomi for Lei Jun,” he declares. Fu is an engineer software and he feels admiration for the founder of Xiaomi, recognized in China for being a successful entrepreneur and a leader in the technology sector.
77% electric taxis
“Xpeng, Chinese; Li Auto, Chinese; NIO, Chinese…”, Fu points out. 77% of the fleet of taxis and transport platform vehicles available in Beijing are electric and the percentage shoots up to 94.7% in the case of buses. The central government has the ambition for all public transport in the country to be electric by 2035.
“There are now more domestic brands on the roads than foreign ones,” says Fu. BYD leads sales, with a market share of 15.8% in the first nine months of the year. In the third quarter it surpassed the revenue of its American archrival Tesla for the first time. However, consulting firm Alixpartners predicts that only 19 of the 137 EV brands that currently exist in China will be profitable by the end of this decade.
The Asian giant is the nation that invests the most in renewables, and the electric car industry is key to achieving its environmental goals. China has the goal of reaching peak carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality (only emitting the same amount of gases into the atmosphere that is absorbed through other means) before 2060. It faces, at the same time, time, an enormous contradiction, since its great addiction to coal makes it the largest emitter of CO₂ in absolute terms, not per capita.
Pollution levels in Beijing have improved markedly compared to a decade ago, when winters were distinguished by a constant blanket of gray that made it impossible to even distinguish the building in front. However, the days in which the air seems chewy still persist in this metropolis of 22 million inhabitants. In the last month, there have been more occasions when the air quality has been “unhealthy” than “healthy”, according to data from the Swiss company IQAir.
Although Fu is concerned about “the fog,” and believes that his purchase “will have a positive impact,” he acknowledges that he did not make the decision for the environment. “In Beijing it doesn’t make sense to buy another type of car,” he reiterates, due to the price and the comfort to circulate through the center. His parents, who live in a small city in Hubei, have a gasoline car. “They hadn’t gotten into an EV until they came to visit me. They loved it,” Fu shares.
1. The Chinese Government’s Plan for Electric Vehicles: Can you discuss the government’s role in promoting electric vehicles and their plans for the future? How do you think this will impact domestic and foreign automakers in China?
2. Consumer Preferences: How have consumer preferences changed in China towards electric vehicles? What factors influence individuals when choosing between domestic and foreign brands?
3. Charging Infrastructure: How advanced is the charging infrastructure in China compared to other countries, and what challenges still exist in ensuring widespread adoption of electric vehicles across the country?
4. Autonomous Driving Technology: Fu mentioned that he prefers a Chinese brand due to the high level of user interaction. Can you talk about the development of autonomous driving technology in China and how it compares to other countries? Are consumers comfortable with this feature, and how does it impact their decision-making process?
5. Air Quality and Health Concerns: Does the air quality in Beijing impact individuals’ decisions to switch to electric vehicles? How do they perceive the health benefits of doing so?
6. The Competition in the Electric Vehicle Market: What are some of the challenges facing domestic Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, and how do you think they can compete with established international brands like Tesla?
7. The Future of Electric Vehicles in China: What do you predict for the future of electric vehicles in China? Will they become the dominant form of transportation, or will there be factors that slow down their adoption? How does this compare to other countries’ progress in this area?
