If you visit Wuhan, one of the largest city in China and you take a bus these days, you may be impressed by the nearly zero-noise experience and the strong feeling of acceleration. That is because 30 percent of public transportation buses have been updated into electric buses. This data is from Changjiang Times, a local newspaper.
According to Government of Wuhan, Wuhan now is trying to build more than 70000 new charging facilities for both electric buses and other electric vehicles by 2022. And with the help of several universities in Wuhan, the government is even more capable to push this trend in the whole province.
The electric vehicle has several environmental and social benefits. Except for the low emission, electric vehicles have multiple advantages not only to the environment but also to the power supply system. With zero emission feature, the electric vehicles would make the city greener, however, the large number of electric vehicles on the road or at home could be a great buffer for the city power supply system. Electricity price could be managed to let the owners charge the vehicles during valley period, also, the electric vehicles could provide additional power to the power grid during peak hours, helping optimize the power system designation! With the support of electric vehicles, the power supply of the grid could be steady and less energy would be lost.
Nowadays, China is encouraging the use of electric vehicles in the whole country by giving the bonus to the electric vehicle manufacturers and consumers. Now over 17.29 million electric vehicles are running on the roads in most mild-climate provinces in China. Yes, the battery couldn’t work at low temperature. But this long mission is faced with many doubts from the EV scholars in China. ‘Though EV seems to be green, it is hard to quantify the impact of the electric vehicles on the energy usage and the environment. ‘Dr. Yuan, Xinmei, an expert of electric vehicles who is also a professor at Jilin University said. However, he is still positive about the future of EV and now he is conducting research to find out the truth of EV.
Another factor that would make it even more tricky to decide the EV’s position in the environment is where the electricity comes from, said Dr. Yuan. In China, the electricity mostly comes from burning coals which could cause serious pollution, making electricity not so green compared with Canada where electricity mostly come from hydropower or wind power. ‘This would be a long journey, from the regulations to the energy structure we all have to make a change, but EV would be the best solution finally. Dr. Yuan told the author.
Though EV is more and more popular in China. This country may go through a period when there might not be great benefit brought by the EV, but finally, with the help of an optimized electric power generation system, the EV could contribute much to a clean environment.
Reference: Yuan, X., Li, L., Gou, H., & Dong, T. (2015). Energy and environmental impact of battery electric vehicle range in China. Applied Energy, 157, 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.001