China develops new electric drivetrains

China has announced the development of its own electric vehicle technology and has already demonstrated the first working systems using a small fleet of electric buses. The new propulsion systems were developed at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which now holds the proprietary intellectual property rights for the asynchronous drive motors and the permanent magnet synchronous motors.

The drivetrains are already in testing with several major Chinese carmakers and will eventually lead to a new range of all-electric passenger cars, reports the Xinhua. The source also reports that new fuel-cell technology is also in development as well as a hybrid-electric bus that uses a conventional internal combustion engine solely to charge the batteries in a similar fashion to GM’s e-Flex system.

Scientists at the CAS admit their technology still lags behind more advanced international standards, but explains that progress is still on schedule under the Chinese government’s 11th Five-Year Program blueprint for the roll-out of electric vehicles by the end of the decade. Pictured above is Roewe 750 sedan prototype equipped with an electric-hybrid drivetrain.