China (ANTARA) - The Chinese automotive brand Geely is increasingly\nserious and focused on developing methanol as an alternative energy\npathway, alongside lithium battery-based electric vehicles, which they\nconsider too heavy for future transportation.<\/p>\n
The Carnewschina website, on Sunday local time, reported that Geely\nChairman Li Shufu stated that lithium battery-based electric vehicles\ncould weigh up to twice as much as equivalent-sized methanol-fuelled\nvehicles.<\/p>\n
Li mentioned that several recent Chinese government policies support\nthe development of alternative fuels besides battery electric vehicles,\none of which concerns accelerating the overall green economic\ntransition, including the construction of infrastructure for charging,\nbattery swapping, hydrogen, and methanol.<\/p>\n
In October 2024, six Chinese government agencies also issued joint\nguidelines to promote the development of integrated renewable energy\nbases combining wind, solar, hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol power.<\/p>\n
Li stated that methanol has an energy density far higher than\nlithium-ion batteries, even described as \u201cmore than ten times.\u201d Based on\nthis, he argued that methanol-fuelled vehicles could achieve the same\npayload capacity with about half the weight of battery-based electric\nvehicles.<\/p>\n
He also linked the heavier weight of electric vehicles to higher\nenergy consumption, particularly for heavy transport. Although\nacknowledging that battery electric vehicles are already widely used in\nChina, he assessed that the weight factor still opens opportunities for\nalternative solutions.<\/p>\n
Geely has been developing methanol vehicle technology for more than\n20 years. China\u2019s first official methanol vehicle trial programme began\nin 2012 under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,\nfollowed by national evaluations and expansion phases.<\/p>\n
In 2019, eight central government agencies issued guidelines to\nencourage the use of methanol vehicles in suitable regions. To date, 39\ncities in 20 province-level regions have implemented more than 80\npolicies supporting methanol vehicles in the Bamboo Curtain Country.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Geely is also testing methanol in racing events.\nThe company previously launched a methanol-fuelled motorsport programme\nafter winter trials, with engines described as \u201cfully compatible with\nM100 methanol fuel,\u201d to test performance in extreme conditions.<\/p>\n
Li positions methanol vehicles as the primary solution for commercial\nand heavy transport, where weight, lifecycle costs, and emissions are\ncrucial.<\/p>\n
He stated that methanol vehicles offer advantages in overall carbon\nemission reductions as well as operational cost efficiency, especially\nwhen combined with methanol production from renewable energy.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/geely-focuses-on-methanol-battery-electric-vehicle-weight-deemed-too-heavy-1775980242", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }