(Yicai Global) Dec. 5 -- China is expected to sell more than 200,000 new energy vehicles for logistics purposes this year, according to a think tank.

In the first 10 months of the year, China sold 167,000 such vehicles, up 78 percent from a year earlier and exceeding the 131,000 units sold last year, the Electric Vehicle Resource Industry Research Institute said.

China has brought out policies in recent years to advance the development of NEVs for logistics by granting right of way and subsidizing buyers, said Zhong Weiping, secretary general of the Commercial Automobile Professional Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association.

Kerui Consulting also predicted earlier this year that China would sell nearly 200,000 NEVs for logistics in 2022 and expected the next few years to be a period of rapid growth for such vehicles.

Government policies are an important factor in boosting the rapid development of logistics NEVs. In November 2020, the State Council released a document saying that from last year, NEVs must account for at least 80 percent of new buses and taxis as well as logistics and delivery vehicles in pilot national ecological conservation zones and key air pollution prevention and control areas. 

Since then, many automakers have entered the logistics NEV field. This year, Wuling Motors and Intelligent Transforms Union launched NEVs specifically for urban distribution logistics. Chery Automobile and Geely Holding Group also have invested in the sector. Wuling, Beiqi Foton Motor, and SAIC Motor released micro-battery electric models to grab a share of the logistics and delivery hub vehicle market.

The market for logistics vehicles is one of the most promising given the rapid development of the express delivery sector and the fact that the government has been considering tightening restrictions on electric tricycles used for deliveries.

The NEV logistics market formed less than 10 years ago and has not yet developed stable cyclical features, with sales fluctuating greatly, according to Kerui Consulting. The technological level and quality of new energy logistics vehicles will become essential factors in future development, it added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione