AP Television
Anting, Shanghai, China - February 14, 2012
1. Wide shot of electric vehicle parking
2. Mid of Zhu Xiao, Project Manager of Shanghai International Automobile City, plugging car to charging station
3. Close shot of charging plug on car
4. Tilt up from car to charging station
5. Close shot of charging station screen
6. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhu Xiao, project manager, Shanghai International Automobile City
"As we can all see, the current situation of traffic in the city is really bad. We have many traditional vehicles, and we have met with high carbon emissions. So the pollution is very serious. I am sure that the future is in the development of the electric vehicles."
7. Wide pan right of Shanghai EV City
8. Close shot of Shanghai EV City banner
9. Close shot of Zhu driving
10. Close shot of dashboard
11. Mid shot of charging station with charging poles
12. Wide shot of electric charging station
13. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhu Xiao, Project Manager, Shanghai International Automobile City
"The main concern is that people don''t know much about electric vehicles. And second, once they are interested in EV, they will also ask the question: ''How can I get an EV running on the road?'' ''Where can I charge my car?'' This is the key question."
14. Wide shot of electric car driving away
15. Wide shot of EV showroom and customer
16. Detail shot of EV number plate
17. Tilt up of customer
18. Wide pan right of empty electric car dealership
AP Television News
Shanghai, China - March 9, 2012
19. Wide shot of traffic
20. Mid shot of heavy traffic
AP Television News
Shanghai, China - March 8, 2012
21. Wide of Yale Zhang, managing director, Automotive Foresight Shanghai, working on his desk
22. Close of Zhang
23. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yale Zhang, Managing Director, Automotive Foresight Shangha
"If you think about it, investing in some kind of charging facility is quite easy, it doesn''t require a lot of investment. Once the battery technology can have the breakthrough, the others will just follow."
AP Television News
Shanghai, China - March 9, 2012
24. Wide shot of electric bus approaching
25. Close shot of electric bus charging device lifting towards charging rails
26. Close shot of electric bus charging device
27. Wide shot of bus unplugging from charge
28. Pull of electric coach leaving bus stop
29. Wide shot of electric scooters on street
28. Mid of electric scooters
AP Television News
Shanghai (China), March 8, 2012
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Yale Zhang, managing director, Automotive Foresight Shanghai
"The government already subsidises maximum 100,000 RMB (15,780 USD) but still, due to the immature of this industry, the price is still so high and those consumers still do not want to buy those EVs."
AP Television News
Shanghai (China), March 9, 2012
31. Wide shot of electric vehicle
32. Wide shot of several electric vehicles
33. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Zhang Hong, car buyer, vox pop
"Only if there are some subsidies to cover the price of the number plates and the purchasing price, then more people will buy these electric cars. The price of the number plate in Shanghai is very expensive now; I am wondering if there will be some policies rolled out to subsidise them in EVs. And I wonder if there is equipment for charging the cars in the gasoline stations. I think that will make it more convenient."
34. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhu Rui, car buyer, vox pop
"I don''t care a lot about the cost, but I do care if I can charge my car in the underground garage at my home. Also, if there are support points to help me to charge the battery along the roads. This is a very important requirement. If the supporting points are not very convenient for me, I will still stick to buying hybrid cars."
AP Television News
Anting (Shanghai, China), February 14, 2012
35. Mid shot of Zhu plugging her car to a charging station
UPSOUND (Mandarin) Zhu Xiao: "You open here, and you plug it in here."
36. Mid shot of Zhu plugging cable to charging station
UPSOUND (Mandarin) Zhu Xiao: "Then, you need to use the IC card."
37. Close tilt up of charging pole and card being introduced
38. Tilt down of charging pole
39. Close shot of charging device
LEADIN
Shanghai has been earmarked as China''s first ''Electric Vehicle'' - or ''EV'' City.
But manufacturers are facing an uphill battle to convince a sceptical public.
China''s home-grown brand of electric vehicles could one day be recharging at a filling station like this prototype.
Many people believe the new crop of EV vehicles like this, provide answers to growing environmental concerns in the world''s most populous country.
But in the world''s largest car market they also make good business sense.
"As we can all see, the current situation of traffic in the city is really bad. We have many traditional vehicles, and we have met with high carbon emissions. So the pollution is very serious," says Zhu Xiao, one of the managers at the Shanghai International Automobile City. "I am sure that the future is in the development of the electric vehicles."
Shanghai was selected last year as the test ground for an EV-friendly pilot programme on a large scale, now known as the ''EV City''.
Currently, around 290 square miles of the city''s Jiading district is reportedly ready for the use of green vehicles.
Jiading was chosen as an important base for the domestic and foreign auto industry: there are several car assembly plants in the area, as well as many component manufacturers.
The Shanghai International Automobile City is also home to the country''s main research and development cluster for new energy vehicles.
The original aim was to deploy 10,000 EVs on the roads while building the necessary supporting infrastructure.
That would mean 13,000 charging points spread across the district and 15 larger stations for either charging or battery swapping. There would also be two hydrogen-refuelling stations.
Although the project managers recognise there have been delays in implementation, they claim that 21,000 people visited Shanghai''s ''EV City'' since last November (2011).
"The main concern is that people don''t know much about electric vehicles. And second, once they are interested in EVs, they will also ask the question: ''How can I get an EV running on the road?'' ''Where can I charge my car?'' This is the key question," says Zhu, the spokesperson for the project.
Technology, price and infrastructure are the main concerns for consumers.
To overcome them, the country''s first solely EV and hybrid car dealership, offers trials of all the models available in the market.
Among them, there are hybrid cars that run on a combination of electric and conventional engines.
But most of the cars here are powered by batteries alone, so-called full EVs.
The government''s target aims at half a million vehicles with some form of electric power on the streets by 2015.
Five years later, sales should leapfrog and total five million green cars.
But of the 18.5 million vehicles sold in China last year, there were only 8,159 hybrid and electric cars according to a survey by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Technology-wise, ion-lithium batteries on full electric cars are still far from the expectations and needs of drivers.
Experts like Yale Zhang, a local analyst with private consultancy firm Automotive Foresight, believe that it could take up to 20 years for automakers to produce a really competitive battery.
Once the technological issue is solved, both infrastructure and price problems will follow suit, says Zhang.
"Technology bottleneck I think is still the main issue. And considering it can be solved, then the other two negative factors (infrastructure and price) can be solved in the future. Because if you think about it, investing in charging facilities is quite easy, it doesn''t require a lot of investment," says Zhang. "Once the battery technology can have the breakthrough the others will follow."
Local and foreign carmakers are stepping up research since Beijing has declared electric vehicles a key emerging industry in its current Five Year Development Plan.
In order to transform the country into a leading producer of clean vehicles, China will reportedly invest 100 billion yuan (15,78 billion USD) in the industry during the next decade.
The starting point for these ambitious goals are pilot projects in 25 major cities to encourage the use of new energy vehicles by government departments and public transportation operators.
The cities are also required to reduce parking and electricity costs for new energy vehicles and to plan infrastructure projects with charging posts.
In Shanghai, 300 out of 18,000 buses in service have already replaced diesel-powered vehicles as part of efforts to reduce air pollution.
The vehicles charge for a few seconds every time they hit a stop on their way.
Other cities like Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Hefei or Beijing have unrolled electric taxi fleets.
Electric bicycles and scooters, now a common sight in Chinese mega-cities, have been regarded as a signal of consumers'' readiness to accept new technologies.
But e-bikes run with old-fashioned lead batteries.
Although easily transportable and convenient to charge, they are an earlier technology than the ion-lithium used for e-cars.
Most car buyers are held back by the high price of EVs, despite subsidies offered by the central government that range from 5,000 yuan ($790) for hybrid cars, to a rebate up to 60,000 yuan on the purchase price of a full battery car.
In six major cities chosen as pilot grounds, the local governments could even double the subsidies.
"All of this kind of forecasting relies on the government subsidies. If the government really pushes, the government will subsidise a lot, and then this industry will take off in China," argues Zhang, the analyst. "But the problem is that the government is already doing that much. It''s already subsidising 100,000 RMB per car (15,780 USD) , but still, because of the immature of this industry the price is still so high and the consumers still don''t want to buy these vehicles."
"Only if there are some subsidies to cover the price of the number plates and the purchasing price, then more people will buy these electric cars," says Zhang Hong, another car buyer in Shanghai.
She echoes the plans mulled by some municipal governments to offer free license plates for EVs, a significant step that would mean an additional subsidy of close to 50,000 yuan ($8,000) in the case of Shanghai.
"The price of the number plate in Shanghai is very expensive now, I am wondering if there will be some policies rolled out to subsidise them in EVs. And I wonder if there is equipment for charging the cars in the gasoline stations. I think that will make it more convenient," she says.
One car buyer, Zhu Rui, who already owns a Toyota plug-in hybrid model, is planning to buy another car now.
"I don''t care a lot about the cost, but I do care if I can charge my car in the underground garage at my home. Also, if there are support points to help me to charge the battery along the roads," says Zhu.
His concern, when thinking about vehicles fully powered by lithium-ion batteries, is infrastructure.
"This is a very important requirement. If the supporting points are not very convenient for me, I will still stick to buying hybrid cars," he says.
Shanghai''s EV City aims to address some of these concerns, building charging stations but also bringing visitors closer to the technology.
At the city''s test-drive centre, marketing manager Zhu shows how her EV can be charged in an easy way.
"You need to pull this out and then the car''s deck for charging in the rear end of the car will open. And then, have a look here. The connector and wire for charging are kept in the back of the car. You can see it here," she explains.
For payment, she introduces an electronic card that will register the amount of electricity charged in her vehicle.
Zhu usually plugs in her car for around six hours for a full battery charge that will allow her driving for around 100 kilometres (62 miles).
So she''s convinced... But will the rest of Shanghai, let alone China, follow suit?
