When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
CAIXINMEDIA

What's Clogging Up Beijing's Push For Electric Cars

Traffic jam in Beijing
Traffic jam in Beijing
Wu Jing

BEIJING — The continuous heavy haze over Beijing is an ever-present reminder of the country's losing battle with pollution. But it may also have been the engine to jump start the Chinese government’s recent push to promote the sale of and use of electric vehicles.

Beijing officials, who had instituted incentives for purchasing electric cars, have also recently announced a program to create 1,000 charging points downtown and in the suburbs to further encourage the switch to the more environmentally friendly driving option.

Unfortunately, consumer response has been decidely chilly.

There were actually fewer applicants (1,428) for special permits during the first two months of this year than the 1,666 permits the city had allotted, according to Beijing Transport Commission data. This certainly leaves some doubt as to whether Beijing will achieve its goal of having 10,000 new buyers of electric cars this year.

Whether electric vehicles will be capable of completely replacing conventional cars remains the biggest consumer concern. The Chinese government, which regards electric cars as the China's best chance of becoming a global leader in the auto industry, has repeated over and over again its benefits.

So what is holding back the Chinese public from switching over to electric?

First is the unsolved problem of the charging infrastructure. For this, Beijing is obliging carmakers to equip each buyer with a personal charging point. But the buyer, in turn, must possess a fixed parking space to utilize it, and the reality is that a parking space in Beijing costs on average more than 200,000 RMB ($32,000), beyond the means of many.

Even for those who can afford such a cost, there are other practical obstacles. For example, a parking space is often so far from an owner’s property electrical box that it doesn’t meet installation requirements.

Who’s responsible?

Meanwhile, car companies complain that charging facilities are fundamentally the responsibility of China’s State Grid Corporation. The complicated charging installations, as well as their maintenance, are going to drive up costs considerably for car companies, many of whom still rely on government subsidies to survive.

[rebelmouse-image 27087842 alt="""" original_size="3328x1872" expand=1]

BYD Electric cars on display at Shenzhen's Central China High-Tech Fair — Photo: Brücke-Osteuropa

Battery safety is another issue that makes the potential buyer tentative. Tesla’s share price took a tumble late last year after suspicion that its Model S caught fire because of a damaged battery. In May 2012, a model made by the Chinese electric car company BYD caught fire after being hit by another vehicle, killing the driver and two passengers. Though the experts’ report stated that the fire was not directly related to the quality of the car, the accident was nonetheless a blow to the whole industry. 

In addition, it’s not clear whether the makers of Chinese electric vehicles are really ready for the market. So far only two carmakers are eligible to sell electric cars in the capital, and six others are applying to Beijing officials for permission. The authorities also require that, after obtaining permission to sell in Beijing, non-local carmakers must be able to respond within 30 minutes in the event of a car breakdown.

They must also meet the target of selling more than 500 cars in the first year, and no fewer than 1,000 cars in the first two years. Otherwise, Beijing will revoke its permission to sell.

As electric carmakers frantically try to fulfill these rigid targets, another problem hovers: regional protectionism. For instance, the BYD Qin, a highly praised plug-in hybrid, was not included in the first batch of Beijing’s permission sale list announced last week simply because BYD Auto is based in Shenzhen, rather than the capital. Tesla has repeatedly called on the Chinese government to treat foreign brands equally, but the Chinese government has dug in its heels.

And so, apparently, has the Chinese consumer.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

Genoa Postcard: A Tale Of Modern Sailors, Echos Of The Ancient Mariner

Many seafarers are hired and fired every seven months. Some keep up this lifestyle for 40 years while sailing the world. Some of those who'd recently docked in the Italian port city of Genoa, share a taste of their travels that are connected to a long history of a seafaring life.

A sailor smokes a cigarette on the hydrofoil Procida

A sailor on the hydrofoil Procida in Italy

Daniele Frediani/Mondadori Portfolio via ZUMA Press
Paolo Griseri

GENOA — Cristina did it to escape after a tough breakup. Luigi because he dreamed of adventures and the South Seas. Marianna embarked just “before the refrigerator factory where I worked went out of business. I’m one of the few who got severance pay.”

To hear their stories, you have to go to the canteen on Via Albertazzi, in Italy's northern port city of Genoa, across from the ferry terminal. The place has excellent minestrone soup and is decorated with models of the ships that have made the port’s history.

There are 38,000 Italian professional sailors, many of whom work here in Genoa, a historic port of call that today is the country's second largest after Trieste on the east coast. Luciano Rotella of the trade union Italian Federation of Transport Workers says the official number of maritime workers is far lower than the reality, which contains a tangle of different laws, regulations, contracts and ethnicities — not to mention ancient remnants of harsh battles between shipowners and crews.

The result is that today it is not so easy to know how many people sail, nor their nationalities.

What is certain is that every six to seven months, the Italian mariner disembarks the ship and is dismissed: they take severance pay and after waits for the next call. Andrea has been sailing for more than 20 years: “When I started out, to those who told us we were earning good money, I replied that I had a precarious life: every landing was a dismissal.”

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest