China has released its 15th five-year development plan for the intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry, outlining priorities for 2026 to 2030 that include broader NEV adoption, autonomous driving deployment and tighter oversight of industry capacity. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the plan on Friday. The document, dated September 9, was jointly issued by nine government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transport.
Under the plan, China aims for new energy vehicles to account for 70% of domestic new passenger-car sales and 40% of new commercial-vehicle sales by 2030. It also calls for vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities to be deployed at scale. China said it wants highly automated driving on highways, urban expressways and some city roads by 2030, with safety performance expected to surpass that of human drivers. The plan also includes demonstrations for autonomous passenger cars, buses, long-haul logistics and urban delivery vehicles.
Infrastructure development is another key component. The government plans faster digital and connectivity upgrades in major cities and along selected national highways to support vehicle-road-cloud integration. It also intends to expand charging and battery-swapping infrastructure, including high-power charging facilities, rural charging networks and vehicle-grid interaction.
The plan places emphasis on supply-side discipline as well. It calls for stronger monitoring of vehicle and battery production capacity, stricter conditions for new standalone NEV manufacturers and more mergers, restructuring and cross-regional consolidation. Authorities also said they will curb improper local incentives and strengthen oversight of competition, pricing, data disclosures and corporate payments.
On technology, the plan identifies automotive chips, operating systems, industrial software and critical materials as areas where gaps still need to be addressed. It also seeks improvements in battery safety, charging speed and low-temperature performance. In addition, China will promote an “AI+Automotive” initiative focused on energy management, motion control, human-machine interaction and predictive fault detection.
The plan sets targets for average electricity consumption of about 11.5 kWh per 100 kilometers for battery electric passenger cars and average fuel consumption of 3.3 liters per 100 kilometers for passenger cars by 2030.
Source: CnEVPost
