On September 28 in Haikou, Hainan Province, the 2024 World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC) which themed “Low Carbon Evolution and Global Cooperation”, has reached the following consensus by stakeholders of the global automotive industry. Wan Gang, president of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and chairman of WNEVC, delivered this consensus.
1. Working together for greater global cooperation in the automotive industry. Open cooperation and collaborative development remain the common aspiration across the global automotive industry. Participants call upon governments and stakeholders from all countries and regions to collaborate with industry, academia, and research sectors to explore a fair, transparent, open, and non-discriminatory coordination mechanism for the international automotive trade, investment and policy regulations. The role of bilateral and multilateral platforms such as the WNEVC will be further enhanced to intensify practical cooperation in technological innovation, market cultivation, and ecosystem building, ushering in a new era of open cooperation in the global automotive industry marked by closely entwined interests.
2. Developing new energy vehicles is a shared path to carbon neutrality. In response to the pressing challenges posed by climate change, it has become a global consensus to promote new energy vehicles (NEVs) as a means of achieving zero-carbon transition in road transportation. Participants will establish clear objectives and adaptable measures as strategies to steadfastly advance NEV development, aiming for a global market share of over 50% by 2035, as outlined in the NEV50@2035 Consensus delivered at 2019 WNEVC.
3. Adopting multiple technical paths to green and low-carbon transition. The development of diversified technical paths is crucial for the steady and orderly transition to a green and low-carbon automotive industry. Participants will vigorously propel the decarbonization of internal combustion engine (ICE) technologies and hybrid applications while advancing the coordinated development of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), zero-carbon hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to meet diverse demands across varying industrial foundations, market characteristics, and usage scenarios.
4. Persisting with advanced automotive technology innovation. The pace of forward-looking and pioneering technological innovations is accelerating, leading to the emergence of industries, models, and dynamics within the automotive sector. Participants will expedite research on cutting-edge electrification technologies such as next-generation power batteries and novel structural fuel cells, as well as encourage the research, development, and application of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) large model, cloud computing, and cutting-edge mobile communications within the automotive industry. This will facilitate the evolution towards intelligent drive-by-wire chassis technologies, fostering a new generation of intelligent connected NEVs with enhanced performance.
5. Boosting new infrastructure development in an efficient and coordinated manner. There is a growing significance of new infrastructure for supporting the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry and fostering cross-sector integration. Participants will collaborate to address bottlenecks related to the development of private charging facilities and enhance the construction of public recharging infrastructure, including charging stations, battery-swapping stations, and hydrogen refueling stations. They will accelerate the establishment of commercial operational models, make a visionary plan for V2G charging posts, and develop novel infrastructure such as intelligent roads, HD maps, cloud control platforms, computing power centers, and data centers. This will lay a solid foundation for building a new industrial ecosystem characterized by vehicle-energy-road-cloud integration.