(Yicai Global) Feb. 25 -- Shanghai aims to boost the production of new energy vehicles by five times and to have at least half of new autos on its roads zero-emission by 2025, the municipal government said today in an ambitious five-year plan that will see fossil-fuel guzzling cars firmly elbowed to one side.

Some 1.2 million electric autos should be manufactured each year by 2025, with an industrial output value of CNY350 billion (USD54.2 billion), it said. This is five times the 238,600 units shipped last year which were worth CNY66.36 billion (USD10.3 billion).

By 2025, NEVs should account for half of all newly purchased private cars, half of all vehicles used by ride-hailing services, 80 percent of government autos and all public buses, taxis, Party officials’ vehicles, trucks in downtown areas and courier vans.

A third of the city’s total auto output in five years’ time should be zero-emission, the local government said. It has tasked the country’s biggest carmaker SAIC Motor, that is headquartered in Shanghai, to ensure that 30 percent of its own-brand car sales are EVs by then.

There should be more than 10,000 fuel-cell vehicles on the roads and more electric heavy-duty trucks and construction machinery.

In order to enable this, 10,000 new charging piles will be built and existing ones will be upgraded to direct current fast charging stations, it said. The city will have 70 hydrogen fueling stations by 2025.

Shanghai will encourage both Chinese and foreign businesses to invest in the development and manufacturing of electric cars and auto parts to form a complete industrial chain, it added.

Editor: Kim Taylor