China is engaged in a monumental top-down effort to promote the development of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) -- plug-in hybrids, pure-battery electrics, and fuel-cell autos. While China leads the world in NEVs, they are less than 1% of all cars on the street. However, the Chinese government's NEV policies, coupled with tax incentives, aim to push the number of NEV cars sold each year to 20% by 2025.

This event will examine China's NEV initiative. Feng An (Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation, iCET) will cruise through China's NEV roadmap, as well as the economic, environmental, and energy security implications of the initiative. Scott Kennedy (CSIS) sees systemic economic roadblacks that could lead the initiative to fall far short of its goals to phase out combustion-engine vehicles by 2050. Camron Gorguinpour (World Resources Institute) will highlight the global impact of China's electric vehicle boom, and how other countries could gain insights from China's green auto sector.