Electric Cars Are A Big Chance For China – Mckinsey

China should push electric cars to curb its dependence on imported oil and foreign automobile technology, although they offer smaller cuts in carbon emissions than alternatives like hybrids, McKinsey and Company said.

In two decades it could create a world-leading industry and a domestic market alone worth up to 1.5 trillion yuan (US$219.4 billion), even if less than a third of drivers go electric, the consulting firm said on Wednesday in a report, “China Charges Up”.
The world’s number two crude oil consumer already churns out millions of automobiles for a growing middle class hungry for a better lifestyle. It relies on imports for nearly half its oil.

If China continues current growth rates it will almost double oil imports by 2030, the report said, but greater use of electric cars would cut this growth by around a quarter.

Planet Ark