First appeared in
Asian Development Bank
100 Climate Actions from Cities in Asia and the Pacific
The ‘Liuzhou Model’ is a public-private partnership to encourage widespread adoption of electric vehicles throughout the city of Liuzhou which has already resulted in significant increases in electric vehicle adoption.
The ‘Liuzhou Model’ is a public-private partnership to encourage widespread adoption of electric vehicles throughout the city of Liuzhou which has already resulted in significant increases in electric vehicle adoption.
Through an innovative approach known as the ‘Liuzhou Model’, the city is encouraging more and more citizens to convert to electric vehicles (EVs). This has involved assessing market demand in the city, providing test drives, promoted charging sockets, and providing special parking spaces for new energy vehicles throughout the city.
28%
YEAR-ON-YEAR INCREASE IN ELECTRIC CAR USAGE FROM 2018
Together with EV company SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile (SGMW), Liuzhou conducted market research to find that in 80% of city journeys, only one person is present in the car. This led to the development of a small and affordable two-seater, specifically designed for short urban transport and easy parking. A 10-month test period was also offered to citizens, after which 70% of users decided to purchase the vehicle.
Progress is being measured with metrics such as the charging station density and parking space ratio in the city. Over the course of the project so far, an additional 6,800 new parking spaces have been created for the small EVs and domestic charging stations have been made accessible to owners. In the first half of 2019, Lizhou’s electric car usage increased by 28% year-on-year from 2018.
The Chinese city of Liuzhou has a population of around 1.5 million and is one of the leaders in the transition to electric vehicles (photo by Fengbin Chen).
The Challenge
Electric vehicles are preferable to their fossil-fueled alternatives, but there still remains the challenge of integrating private vehicles in a city of over 4 million inhabitants.
Co-Benefits
Social Affordable public transport such as BRT can help improve access to public services such as healthcare and job opportunities for all parts of society.
Health Lizhou’s air quality is improving, with particulate matter concentrations down by around 30% compared with last year and the percentage of days with good air quality is increasing 16.1% year-on-year.
Economic The project aims to stimulate the new energy vehicle industry and create more jobs within the sector. It is estimated that the new energy vehicle industry can create 66,000 job opportunities.