China Plans Battery Sites for Electric Cars

CNOOC is heavily considering the option of building battery charging stations for electric cars. This is part of a much more broad push to boost the sales of “alternative” cars in China’s giant market. (It seems only fair to say that China National Offshore Oil Corp. is indeed state owned). Their idea for charging stations is very similar to Better Place’s. You simply go to the station, swap out the battery, and carry on your merry way. Mr. Shan, who owns CNOOC’s parent company, says that while he cannot build the cars, he can sure supply the energy.

After all, CNOOC did invest roughly 732 million dollars into Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co., which is a Chinese company that produces lithium batteries specifically for electric cars. Not surprisingly, CNOOC’s move to batteries falls in line with big Western electric car and oil company’s moves to the same.

Many of China’s oil companies have begun to experiment with alternative energies. Their new-found encouragement comes from government mandates to lower greenhouse emissions as well as dependence upon foreign oil. CNOOC also has plans to build their own offshore wind farm. Even CNPC, China’s biggest oil/gas producer, is a partner in a carbon exchange market.

Mr. Shen admitted that the possibility of building battery stations in China largely depends upon the popularity of electric cars, and if it would be enough to support the costs of the new business. He is sure that Chinese customers will indeed go green if gas prices keep at their current 8 yuan a liter run. Another big factor is the expense and reliability of batteries.