[misterno]

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41218243

Long time due. Where have you been China?

They had to this decades ago. With Chinese Government help, I can not wait for Chinese to come up with a better technology than Tesla.

[KaiserJeep]

There's a graphic example of the differences between a democracy and a communist state: any politician announcing such an intent here in the USA would be out of a job. But understand that this one compliment does not mean I at all approve of such states - Venezuela being the latest example of why socialism just does not work.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is the right move, and one that needs to happen world wide within the coming decade. But the Democracies won't be the first countries to obsolete petroleum fuels.

This needs to happen and new vehicles should all be BEVs, or fuelled with LNG, CNG, or alcohols. The demand for gasoline and diesel would still continue for decades, and the liquid petroleum fuel demand would taper off as the existing vehicles get retired, more or less matching the dwindling supplies.

[Cog]

LOL China has zero intent to move away from oil. Their deals, acquisitions, and desire for hegemony over the South China sea tell a whole different story. China means to have oil even if it involves war with another super-power.

[dolanbaker]

China are playing the long game, they want to ensure there is a supply for the indefinite future, getting rid of petrol & diesel cars leaves plenty of oil for heavy industry & commercial vehicles that don't have a realistic of going electric in the near future.

[Plantagenet]

Right now this amounts to nothing--- just like China's agreement with Obama to fight Climate Change made at the bilateral Beijing meeting in 2014 and China's signing on to the Paris Climate meeting in 2015.

When you get past the hoopla the pledges amount to nothing. In fact, China in the 2014 China pledged to continue business as usual, and in 2015 pledged at the Paris Climate Meeting to INCREASE their CO2 emissions.

Think of it this way----how is China going to meet their 2014 agreement wit Obama to continue business as usual and their 2015 Paris Accords pledge to INCREASE CO2 emissions if they REDUCE fossil fuel use? It does't make any sense.....

Cheers!

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'C')hina are playing the long game, they want to ensure there is a supply for the indefinite future, getting rid of petrol & diesel cars leaves plenty of oil for heavy industry & commercial vehicles that don't have a realistic of going electric in the near future.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('GASMON', 'B')etter change this site's name to Peak Lithium and Rare Earths dot com !!!!!
Gas

[Ibon]

Put aside a moment the long term challenge to execute the total phase out of petrol cars and look instead toward the symbolism of this announcement. It represents a great leap forward, far ahead of feasibility and scale but it anchors a meme in the minds of the world about the seriousness to transition to clean energy. As Dolanbaker pointed out China is using a long term strategy. But at the same time a short term strategy perhaps more important. Taking the lead and initiative, gaining credibility globally, putting on the veneer of global environmental leadership and growing dominance.

[KaiserJeep]

The UK, France, and some Scandahoovian countries have all announced at least the objective of the phase out of the petroleum fuels. As Ibon points out, this is mainly symbolic at this point in time. One of those Scandahoovian countries is Norway, where EVs reached 29.1% of new car sales in 2016 and seem to be on track for 37% in 2017. Already 5% of all vehicles on Norwegian roads are BEVs. A variety of government incentives and fee/tax waivers are responsible.

I wish Trump had the courage to do this same announcement. Symbolic or not, it is a forward-looking announcement that should be viewed by all as good news. We will still have petroleum fuels for decades, and petroleum wells for over a century. Low price per barrel or not, the stuff is simply too precious to burn.

[kublikhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', 'T')he UK, France, and some Scandahoovian countries have all announced at least the objective of the phase out of the petroleum fuels.

[onlooker]

Well in your own words Kaiser look at what politicians do not what they say. The world is irrevocably linked to fossil fuels for its survival and subsistence. Furthermore, in rich countries the art of politics is the art of appeasing the masses and being reelected. And the best way of achieving that is with a healthy Economy dependent on FF for that. Which is why communist leaders in China can boldly speak like that even if they will not readily follow this course

[EdwinSm]

Another long shot: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'V')olkswagen, the world's biggest carmaker, will offer an electric version of all its 300 models by 2030, becoming the latest manufacturer to move away from petrol and diesel.

[kublikhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('baha', 'A')s the FF'd economy fades away so will the US...Unless we get on board.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('baha', 'T')his isn't a political issue it's an energy of the future issue. As the FF'd economy fades away so will the US...Unless we get on board.

[SeaGypsy]

Sloughs off.

[kublikhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('baha', 'T')his is also not a vehicle issue. It is all about energy. Those car companies who start by building battery manufacturing facilities will succeed. Others will just be dependent. I just heard Mercedes is building a battery plant and entering the home storage market...they will be successful. GM will be left behind.

[kublikhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]CHINA LEADING THE CHARGE
We talked to Simon Moores, Managing Director at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, who explained that Tesla isn’t alone or unique in its ambitions to build lithium-ion batteries at scale: While the Tesla Gigafactory is vitally important from an EV vertical integration perspective, the majority of new lithium-ion battery capacity is being built in China. Some of these plants are expected to be huge such as the CATL facility at 50GWh – there is little doubt that China’s lithium-ion industry has come of age.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) has plans to build the largest lithium-ion megafactory of all – but the company is little known in North America. It’s already worth $11.5 billion, and could be a dominant force globally in the battery sector if it successfully increases its lithium-ion production capacity six-fold to 50GWh by the year 2020.

Other Chinese manufacturers are on a similar trajectory. Panasonic, LG Chem, and Boston Power are building new megafactory plants in China, while companies such as Samsung and BYD are expanding existing ones. All lithium-ion plants in China currently have a capacity of 16.4GWh – but by 2020, they will combine for a total of 107.5GWh.

CAPACITY BY COUNTRY
This ramp up in China means that the country will have 62% of the world’s lithium-ion battery production capacity by 2020.