Great Wall Motors launches hybrid vehicle system

China’s largest SUV maker Great Wall Motors made the global launch of its latest hybrid technology on Tuesday, making its foray into the field that has been dominated by Japanese carmakers including Toyota.

Shan Hongyan, vice-president of Great Wall Motors responsible for research and development, said the system has an overall efficiency of over 50 percent.

It enables vehicles to run on electric mode for up to 200 kilometers, and vehicles can have a fuel consumption of 5 liters per 100 kilometers on city roads.

Senior experts in China’s auto industry are calling for local carmakers to develop hybrid vehicles, saying the technology will be indispensable for the country’s carbon neutralization goal.

Fu Yuwu, honorary president of the China Society of Automotive Engineers, said China has set a goal to cut passenger car fuel consumption to 4 liters per 100 kilometers, as part of the efforts to realize the country’s commitment of carbon neutralization by 2060.

“Without hybrid technology, it will be hard to cut it to 4 liters per 100 kilometers,” said Fu on Tuesday.

In October, Fu’s society released China’s road map for new energy vehicles and hybrids. It estimated that electric cars and plug-in hybrids will account for 20 percent of cars sold in 2025 and 50 percent by 2035, while hybrids will account for the rest 50 percent.

Dong Yang, vice-president of think tank China EV 100, said Chinese carmakers have been late in developing hybrid technology.

“Our favorable policies for electric cars and plug-in hybrids resulted in the misconception that China does not support hybrid vehicles,” said Dong.