Eaton to invest in clean energy in China's public transport systems

Power management company Eaton will further invest in innovative clean and high-efficiency power systems in China in alignment with the country's goal to increase more use of new energy vehicles in the public transportation system.

Joe-Tao Zhou, President of Eaton (China) Investment Co Ltd said that currently more than 10,000 buses running in China's 78 cities have been equipped with Eaton's hybrid systems, which have logged one billion kilometers in total since 2008 and saved 40 percent in fuel compared with a non-hybrid system.

Eaton also looks to invest more into green energy power solutions in China, including smart grid and microgrid, and supercharger, according to Zhou.

Eaton may launch commercial-use pure electricity-fueled vehicle power solutions by the end of this year.

Analysts said although relatively low oil prices have challenged the greater adoption of new energy vehicles in China, in the long run it is an irreversible trend that more new energy vehicles will be running on the road as the country is committed to reduce carbon emissions and to increase use of clean, renewable energies.

According to data from the Ministry of Transport, currently more than 50,000 new energy vehicles are running in the public transportation system, and the number is expected to grow to 200,000 by the end of 2020.

Research from Soochow Securities said that the market for the new energy vehicle sector, including power management, grid building and charger networks may expand fast and reach a size of more than 600 billion in the next five years, and more pure electricity-fueled cars will be used in China.