Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.17
Who Killed the Electric Car?
2006, directed by Chris Paine. The story of the development of
the engine and battery technology, but also the purposive limited commercialisation and subsequent
demise of the battery electric vehicle in the US, with the General Motors EV1 playing the central
character. Are we about to repeat history, or is the timing better now? 'Who writes the history?
Um, well . . . The guy with the biggest club.'
Source
: British Film Institute Stills Collection.
aggressive vehicle marketing. Even a relatively well-organised environmental lobby in the
West has failed to slow the trend towards motorisation. Jinan, and China more generally,
needs to consider how they might get around this problem of powerful, vested interests. Motor-
isation can be developed in China, but it has to be managed in a way that supports city life,
and it has to be of the low-emission vehicle variety for environmental reasons. This still
provides a business model for the domestic car manufacturing industry, and can also be
combined with wider sustainable mobility measures (Banister, 2008).
As a final comment, the current trends from Jinan are perhaps salutary. Between 2006
and 2010, Jinan's economy grew very quickly, with a 13.9 per cent annual average growth
rate, higher than the 13 per cent target. Similar to many cities in China, motorisation has
developed rapidly. By 2010, Jinan had 730,000 vehicles, of which 610,000 were privately
owned, an increase of 24 per cent relative to 2009. Jinan has not formulated policies to manage
the increase in vehicle population, such as in Shanghai and Beijing. In Jinan's twelfth
5-Year Plan, the automotive industry, along with the electronic and information sector, and
mechanical equipment sector, are viewed as the three 'pillar industrial sectors' that are to be
supported (Jinan Municipal Government, 2011). Scenario 1 (or a limited variation of this)
provides a probable future for Jinan, where vehicle ownership is likely to continue to increase
at a rapid rate.
