<article><p class="lead">China has revised its new energy vehicle (NEV) credit score programme for 2021-23 to form a long-term mechanism to develop the industry. </p><p>The move, announced today by the country's ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) and four relevant departments, is designed to reshuffle the country's automotive manufacturing industry by encouraging more auto producers to produce electric vehicles and reduce output of vehicles running on fossil fuels.</p><p>The new scheme is to ensure average fuel consumption of new passenger cars at 4 litres/100km by 2025, down from 5.5l/100km in 2019. The proportion of NEV production and sales is targeted at reaching 20pc of total auto production, according to MIIT.</p><p>The new programme will raise the NEV credit to 14pc in 2021, 16pc in 2022 and 18pc in 2023, from 10pc in 2019 and 12pc in 2020.</p><p>Beijing introduced the credit score programme in 2017, under which domestic car manufacturers are awarded higher scores based on the more electric and hybrid vehicles they sell. </p><p>The credit scheme is expressed in percentage terms, but functions as a points system, with points awarded using a formula based on production levels and taking into account factors such as energy efficiency and driving range.</p><p>The formulas are also updated in the new plan. The coefficient of all-electric vehicles' driving range will be reduced from 0.012 to 0.0056, while the points for plug-in hybrid vehicles will be cut to 1.6 from 2. Fuel-cell vehicles' points will be 0.08 times of energy efficiency, down from 0.16.</p><p>The credit points are allowed to be carried forward and traded when auto manufacturers fail to meet production targets. The points in 2019 can be carried forward in equal amounts for one year, while the points in 2020 can only be carried over by 50pc each time. It aims to enhance the trading value of credit points and to encourage trading among new energy manufacturers.</p><p>A correlation mechanism has been set up between the energy-saving level of auto producers and NEV credit points. If the fuel consumption of an auto producer's traditional energy passenger cars reaches a certain level, 50pc of its NEV credit points can be carried forward. </p><p>The new plan has also updated the definition of traditional energy vehicles — passenger cars, except new energy ones, that can run on gasoline, diesel, gas or alcohol ether fuel, including non-plug-in hybrid passenger cars. It has added alcohol ether fuel vehicle into the list, which is expected to promote energy conservation and emission reduction of traditional energy vehicles.</p><p>It has also proposed a separate list of "low fuel consumption passenger vehicles" to promote the popularisation of this kind of vehicle technology and to encourage firms to increase investments in this kind of vehicles. </p><p>China will maintain its support for the NEV industry through a variety of measures, said industry and information technology minister Miao Wei at the end of May.</p><p>The country's NEV production during January-May was 295,000 units, <a href="https://metals.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2113455">down by 39.7pc</a> from a year earlier, with sales in this period down by 38.7pc on a yearly basis to 289,000 units, according to data from China's automotive manufacturers association.</p></article>
