China's EV Future is Now

Why do most first-time electric vehicle (EV) buyersrest of the human power system. When I asked why
decide to make the switch to clean, reliable electricpeople did this, someone explained that the law states
transportation? Are they trying to limit the amount ofthat electric bicycles can be sold without licensing
smog-forming pollutants they emit? Nope. Are theythrough department stores and any other retail outlet.
looking for the most energy-efficient vehicle available?Electric scooters, on the other hand, were illegal in
No way. Are they searching for ways to reduce theirmany locations. To address this issue, companies build
carbon footprint? Not even close.electric scooters with the bare minimum of human
In fact, most people who buy their first electric vehicleassist capabilities required to meet the legal definition of
are increasing their carbon footprint when they do so."electric bicycle." Since lots of people decided they
That's because almost every electric vehicle sold inwould never pedal their vehicles, they simply removed
the world today is the first motorized vehicle the buyerthe pedals, etc. in order to make their scooter what
has ever owned. Every day in China, thousands andthey really wanted in the first place.
thousands of electric bicycles and scooters are sold toI spent the last few days of my trip in Taiwan. I
people who are "upgrading" from bicycles or walkingimmediately noticed that, where people on the mainland
shoes.rode electric vehicles, people in Taiwan rode small
I recently spent two weeks traveling all over China ontwo-stroke scooters. When I asked why this was so,
business. The huge numbers of people traveling onpeople confirmed my suspicions that Chinese people
various forms of two-wheeled electric vehicles weredo not, in general buy e-bikes and e-scooters due to
simply staggering. In Suzhou City, about fifty milesany sense of environmental altruism. No... they buy
outside of Shanghai, electric bicycles and scooterselectric because a gas scooter costs five times as
outnumbered passenger automobiles by at least ten tomuch as an e-bike does. It is as I and others have
one. At rush hour, the right lanes of the streets lookedbeen saying for many years now; electric vehicles
like rivers of electric vehicles. It was clear that when acost much less than ICE-powered vehicles once they
worker in that area goes looking for a commuterare mass-produced.
vehicle, the default vehicle will be electric-powered.That's right; simple economics have dictated China's
Buying something that is powered by an internaltransformation into an EV culture. Which begs one
combustion engine (ICE) is outside the norm.question, since price is the primary factor driving
I saw a broad range of EV choices available and inChinese people to buy electric vehicles, what will
use. The majority used lead-acid batteries, althoughhappen when an average citizen of China has much
use of lithium-ion batteries was on the rise. Most of themore wealth? As the "first world" countries continue to
EVs had two wheels, although I also saw manypour huge amounts of cash into the Chinese economy,
electric tricycles used for hauling larger loads. Almost allthe balance of financial power will inevitably tip toward
of them used small motors mounted in the hub of oneChina. This is already visible to those watching the US
of the wheels. The smallest motors produced aboutDollar tumble versus the Chinese Yuan. Soon, the
100 Watts (W) of power, but the majority of electricaverage Chinese worker may be able to afford a car.
bicycles used motors in the 180-250W range. ScootersWill they choose to abandon their hyper-efficient
had somewhat larger motors, but none of theme-bikes in favor of passenger cars when they can? If
produced more than one horsepower (746W).they do, will those cars be powered by electricity or by
Compare that to American automobiles producing atfossil fuels? Anyone who cares about the world
least 100 horsepower, and you can begin to see whyhopes that they will continue to choose the most
electric bicycles are such efficient vehicles comparedefficient EVs possible, but anyone who studies human
to other alternatives.nature must have his/her doubts.
Many people rode small folding electric bicycles withPlease do not misinterpret the intent of this article. I am
16" or 20" wheels. This puzzled me until I talked to onenot saying we should look to China as an example of
of the locals. He explained that the average family ofa "green" society. I saw with my own eyes and felt in
three (remember the one child per family law) lived inmy own lungs the terrible pollution problem China is
an apartment with about 300 square feet of floorproducing with its massive coal-burning power plants,
space. In the cities, virtually all the apartments arelack of environmental controls on industry, etc. No
above the ground floor because the street level isrational human being would argue that China's
reserved for commercial and industrial space. So, allenvironmental policies are anything short of horrific.
these commuters need to be able to haul their vehiclesHowever, in the one single area of personal
up one to ten flights of stairs and stow them in verytransportation, China is demonstrating an important
limited spaces. An electric folding bicycle fits this needpoint. Publicists and corporate lackeys everywhere
perfectly.want us to believe that our environmental problems
Perhaps most common were vehicles that looked likeare hard to solve, that they require decades of
electric mopeds, with a platform on which to rest one'sresearch and trillions of dollars just to begin. My trip to
feet and pedals which looked like they were added asChina proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that these
an afterthought. These tended to be more powerfulnaysayers are wrong. In order to save our planet, all
than the folding e-bikes, which probably made up forwe need to do is act. The answers are as simple as
the difficulties encountered in overnight parking. Beyondconserving energy, building wind turbines, having fewer
these electric mopeds, there were lots of electricchildren and/or strapping an electric motor and a
scooters that looked like modernized versions of thebattery pack on a bicycle. If we can get beyond the
old Vespa design. Like the electric mopeds, many offorces of greed and laziness, the answers are right in
scooters had vestigial pedal assemblies, and I noticedfront of our faces.
that many folks simply removed the pedals and the