As we all know, the world is facing some serious problems such as energy shortage and environment deterioration in the 21st century. As a consequence, the related auto industry is facing great challenges. In the 21st century, the traditional auto industry that is mainly based on oil must switch to new energies, supported hi-tech industry. And environmental protection and energy saving are becoming more and more important in this process.

In the 1970s, many famous auto companies such as Ford and Toyota started to develop Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) due to the oil shortage. But finally, new vehicles mainly driven by the electric power did not go very far, which resulted from fuel cells problems. Therefore, some large companies turned to another field: Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV). For more than 30 years’ research and development, Toyota developed Prius, a new HEV put into market in 1997. In the following years, some large auto companies such as Toyota and GM have been or prepared to put some HEVs into market. But in the list of the most fuel efficiency vehicles 2005 in the US, the top two positions are still occupied by Toyota’s Prius and Honda’s Insight.

HEVs that have been or prepared to put into market

Considering the importance of the HEV market, many famous auto manufacturers invest a lot into this field. From 2000 to 2005, the whole production amount of HEVs has increased by nearly 6 times and, among these vehicles, a very large proportion is from Japan’s manufacturers Toyota and Honda.

Though the HEV market gradually grows into maturation, some Chinese manufacturers and research & development centers still invest a lot into the field of BEV that has already been abandoned by other world famous auto manufacturers. On October 1st, 2005, that is, two months before Toyota and First Automotive Works’ PRIUS was released, China published new HEV Standards. China’s new HEV Standards take reference of other standards such as ISO, ECE, EN, etc. Obviously, the purpose is to avoid taking Toyota’s HEV Standards, but some reference standards are also based on Toyota’s technology. So inevitably China’s new HEV standards include some Toyota’s standards. According to China’s new HEV Standards, many standards are not involved in patent technology except some key parts such as fuel cell and motor and some patent technology such as Electrical Systems. So, any auto companies can manufacture HEVs. After China Prius was put into market in China, many Chinese auto manufacturers declared their HEV plans.

Chinese Auto Manufacturers’ HEV Plans

In the field of research and development of traditional auto technologies, there is still a big gap between Chinese auto manufacturers and their foreign counterparts. Due to the fact that foreign auto companies do not want to transfer their core technologies, many Chinese auto manufacturers took step to introduce some advanced and mature automobiles into home market in order to gain some advantages. From a long-term view, most of the manufacturers will lose the momentum of auto self-developing, and gradually they will completely depend upon foreign auto manufacturers. And Chinese auto industry will then be trapped into a vicious circle and finally will gradually only become the manufacturing center of the world auto industry.

As a new rising energy saving and environment-friendly vehicle, HEV is an ideal choice for Chinese auto manufacturers, because the technology and the market of HEV are still increasing quickly. There is small gap between Chinese auto companies and their foreign counterparts. So, it provides a good opportunity for Chinese manufacturers to master the world-class auto technologies. Now, Chinese auto companies are facing great challenges, especially the shortage of R&D funds, but if the HEV finally become the main vehicles, those who have the advanced technologies of HEV such as Toyota, will get great advantages in the international auto market. The worst thing is if none of Chinese auto manufacturers mastered the self-developing technology, because they would probably all have to buy Toyota’s HEV technology. Then, China’s HEV market would be monopolized by Toyota. For Chinese government and those who want to master the self-developing technology, this is a “nightmare”. So, mastering the self-developing technology of HEV is the only way to prevent Chinese HEV market to be monopolized by some other foreign auto companies, such as Toyota.