Briefing
Update on Hainan’s transition to electric vehicles through 2020
The island province of Hainan has been steadfast in making a transition to electric vehicles since releasing its vehicle electrification roadmap in 2019, and this briefing summarizes the results of policy efforts made through 2020. In many ways, Hainan is leading the way on vehicle electrification in China. The electric share of new passenger vehicle sales reached in Hainan in 2020 was 21.1%, nearly four times the national average. Still, Hainan’s progress lagged behind its own ambitious targets. As shown in the figure below, with the exception of buses, the electric share for new sales of private cars, vans, and sanitation trucks in 2020 were all far from the policy targets. As the authors explain, this calls for not only more comprehensive policy efforts, but also in-depth and continuous tracking of progress and evaluation of the impacts of various policies.
