What brand of electric car is good? Don't look at it! China will lead the global research and development of electric vehicle technology!

According to Reuters reported on April 19, during the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show, executives of several car companies said that China's treatment of motor vehicle pollution will make itself a cutting-edge electric vehicle technology hub and end the introduction of technology from Europe and the United States. A series of proposals to promote clean driving will encourage overseas car companies to increase R&D efforts in China, which is expected to make China a leader in advanced technology and a major force in the future development of the industry. According to McKinsey Management Consulting, 43% of the 780,000 electric vehicles produced in 2016 came from China, with Germany and the United States accounting for 23% and 17% respectively.

For many years, automakers have been trying to increase economies of scale to reduce the cost of electric vehicles. To some extent, electric vehicle prices have never been favored by consumers. However, China has given a strong incentive to support the development of electric vehicles – by adopting multiple proposals, car manufacturers are required to increase the proportion of sales of “new energy vehicles”. UBS analysts said that the transition from fuel-powered cars to electric vehicles provided automakers with a revenue of 100 billion euros.

Volkswagen brand director Herbert Diess is convinced that China will become the dominant market for electric vehicles. Diss said the Chinese government has introduced policies that are clearly conducive to the development of electric vehicles (such as high-subsidy and industrial frameworks in the form of joint ventures) to encourage parties to invest in such technologies. In order to ensure market share, Volkswagen will also invest in the development of electric vehicles and software technology in China, which will promote the transformation of enterprises.

GKN, the UK-based global engineering group, supplies parts for the BMW i8 and the Volvo XC90. The group said that China will become a global production center for electrified transmission systems in 2018 and achieve the sales target of 1 million new energy vehicles by 2025. Its Chinese joint venture Shanghai Natiefu Transmission Shaft Co., Ltd. (SDS) will begin to produce GKN transmission systems for domestic Chinese automakers in 2018, and plans to begin production of GKN's first complete eDrive system in 2019. Including motors, inverters, axles and gearboxes. The system will first be applied to a small car platform from a European car manufacturer that will be sold worldwide.

Phil Swash, CEO of GKN Transmission Systems, said that four global automakers have agreed to purchase GKN motors, which will be launched in China first. In an interview with Reuters, he also said that this is the first time in 30 years that GKN has developed and deployed new technologies in China, because China is now a world leader in eDrive.

The Daimler Group is also preparing to launch Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles in China. Hubertus Troska, head of Daimler's China operations, said it would promote the local production of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles. At the same time, he added that Daimler’s development focus is not on technology transfer due to fear of technology leakage. In the past two or three years, Mercedes-Benz's China R&D business has tripled and the R&D team has reached 700.

Dieter Zetsche, Daimler's chief executive, said the Chinese team has the ability to develop a complete vehicle, not just a custom European design. The assignment of tasks to China and other Mercedes-Benz R&D centers remains to be determined. He said that he would decide how to assign tasks according to specific circumstances, but he will certainly consider the ability of Chinese teams to develop electric vehicles in China.