China announces guidelines for alternative-fuel vehicles

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has revealed technical guidelines for the local production of alternative-fuel vehicles in the country, reports China Securities Journal. Under the regulations, pure-electric vehicles should have a maximum speed of more than 80 km/h and a driving range of more than 100 km. The vehicles should use core components, including batteries, that have a shelf life of more than 100,000 km, and a complete charge should take less than seven hours. Up to 80% of a charge must be available after less than 30 minutes of charging. In addition, pure-electric vehicles must consume electric energy of less than 0.16 kWh/km. (May 27, 2010)