Thread by @RadiiChina

The establishment of China's EV industry has been shaped by over a decade of effort, after the gov recognized pollution as a growing issue that the rising middle class would exacerbate.

(📜 a thread 1/9)

In the 2010s, five cities - Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Hefei and Changchun - began offering subsidies as high as 60kRMB (~9,200USD) for people buying fully electric cars. (2/9)

Meanwhile, local govts provided tax breaks + grants for EV manufacturers like @BYDcompany.

So: 💸 discounts for both makers & buyers of EV cars. (3/9)

@BYDCompany In 2014, @NIOGlobal was established & has become globally known for its battery-swapping technology, now used for taxis and public transport systems. (4/9)

@BYDCompany @NIOGlobal Also founded in 2014: @XPengMotors, by two former execss of a Guangzhou-based auto co. Their first model was released in 2018. (5/9)

@BYDCompany @NIOGlobal @XPengMotors A year earlier, in 2013, @Tesla had entered the Shanghai market... but didn’t begin locally producing cars until five years later. 🤷 (6/9)

@BYDCompany @NIOGlobal @XPengMotors @Tesla At the same time, some of the country’s biggest state-owned automakers began getting in on the action. SAIC & BAIC partnered w global brands like GM & BW to add new local contenders. (7/9)

@BYDCompany @NIOGlobal @XPengMotors @Tesla In the long-term, subsidies will be rolled back on private vehicles (by 10% a year from 2020-2023). But there's also a quota for making EVs!

The target: 25% of production by the end of this decade. 🤯 (8/9)

@BYDCompany @NIOGlobal @XPengMotors @Tesla Read the deets about China's wildly expanding #ElectricVehicle industry in our latest. @tomhanks would be proud.

radiichina.com/china-electric…