ICCT and China Automotive Technology and Research Center announce joint research plans

In August 2013, the International Council on Clean Transportation and the China Automotive Technology and Research Center finalized a memorandum of understanding detailing the two organizations’ intentions to collaborate on a joint research project analyzing passenger vehicle technologies and costs in China. The non-binding memorandum, which covers a two-year period (2013–2015) and is renewable, also expresses the organizations’ desires to develop a closer and more formal cooperative relationship, with a view toward facilitating exchange of knowledge and expertise.

The research project that is the immediate focus of the memorandum will evaluate fuel-efficiency technologies and China-specific costs of these technologies for new light-duty vehicles in the upcoming decade. This work will support the development of medium-term energy-efficiency goals for China’s auto industry, as well as fuel-efficiency targets for light-duty vehicles in 2020 and 2025.

The ICCT will contribute a methodology and analytical framework for technology and cost assessment tailored to the Chinese market. CATARC will provide crucial local data and technical inputs that tune the analytical results to fit the Chinese context, and therefore better support the Chinese policy-making. Initial results of the project are expected to be available in spring 2014.

The joint project paves the way for more comprehensive and in-depth cooperation between the two organizations on additional work to advance clean transportation technologies. This unique collaboration showcases the strength of the ICCT’s approach to energy and environmental policy: tailoring global best-practice methodologies and analytical frameworks to the distinctive context of a specific country or region to support practical and effective policy solutions.

The China Automotive Technology and Research Center is a leading technical and research organization in China that supports multiple Chinese governmental authorities in the areas of vehicle technological standardization, policy and regulation formulation, and regulatory administration. The Center also executes major national technological research projects related to the automotive industry in China. CATARC was formed in 1985 under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China’s State Council. It currently has nearly three thousand employees, including over one thousand technical staff.

Contact: Hui He 何卉, +1 415 2025752 / hui@theicct.org