CHINA'S CYCLISTS TAKE CHARGE ELECTRIC BICYCLES ARE SELLING BY MILLIONS DESPITE EFFORTS TO BAN THEM

摘要

For all the talk of China's growing infatuation with automobiles, the world's most populous nation continues to roll primarily on two wheels-and, increasingly, an electric motor drives them. The China Bicycle Association, a government-chartered industry group in Beijing, estimates that last year manufacturers sold 7.5 million electric bikes nationwide-nearly double the sales in 2003-and they are likely to ship more than 10 million this year. That's three times as many as the most optimistic projections for auto sales in China. There's a powerful desire for motorized personal transportation in China as its cities sprawl. The electric bicycle is an attractive option for commuters, service people, and couriers [see photo, "Pizza! Pizza!"]. At 1500 to 3000 yuan (180 dollars US to 360 dollars), an electric bike is buyable at a small fraction of the cost of an automobile. It propulsion-technology firm WaveCrest Laboratories LLC, in Dulles, Va., and an authority on electric-bicycle markets. "The question is: what are we going to do with them? I'd say we don't know yet."