A study in the current issue of the International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management indicates that China through its economic power and mass production capabilities will leapfrog into the global EV market, if it brings out a law on standards for electric vehicles.
The paper published by the management researchers, Hua Wang and Chris Kimble of Euromed Management École de Marseille, explicates that how such a move will make China to lead the industry with its own production standards.
The researchers while clarifying the idea of leapfrogging have explained that it will always be advantageous for an industrialized country such as China to directly adopt its own highly developed technologies instead of moving in the already developed path of its forerunners. They further said that the idea will be more relevant for use in the automobile industry, which is starved of new technologies in order to bring down its reliance on fossil fuel.
Critiquing on the earlier studies in the field, the research has explained the three viable paths available for China to sustain and develop the growth of its electric vehicle industry. As the first path, it suggested for the import of the needed technologies from the advanced countries and to attempt low cost production by utilizing its cheaper production facilities and to lead the market by volume production. However, the report hinted that though the first option will enable the country to produce in volumes it will ultimately make the country a technology follower instead of a leader.
The research explained the second path of allowing the industry to grow without government legislations or restriction, which in due course may result in the growth of a single segment such as low-speed electric vehicles or electric bikes and further said that the country will ultimately fail to have a dominant role in any of the markets.
As explained before, the researchers felt that the third path of developing its own technologies with proper standards will prove to be more beneficial for the country instead of aping the technologies of other countries. They added that it will put China in a leading position than the other nations that are yet to develop their own required standards.
Source: http://www.inderscience.com/