The EV-READY@SHANGHAI initiative, which aims to build Shanghai an electric vehicles-friendly city in five years, is launched at the 2015 International EV Pilot Cities and Industrial Development Forum. [Photo by jiading.gov.cn]

Shanghai will take efforts to become electric vehicle-friendly within five years, according to an initiative by the municipal government on May 8.

Gao Yun, governor of Jiading district, announced the EV-READY@SHANGHAI initiative at the 2015 International EV Pilot Cities and Industrial Development Forum in Jiading.

Gao said that Shanghai as an international EV pilot city has created incentives for customers to buy EVs. And the city is pushing forward EV leasing---it is expected that more than 3,000 EVs will be available for rent at 300 spots across the city, an endeavor to support energy saving and emission reduction, relieve urban traffic congestion and the lack of parking space.

"We call for influential players in the EV industry with social responsibility to establish an alliance, to seek ways of expanding the number of EVs on roads. We will promote wider use of EVs in different levels of government and public transportation. We will encourage research and development of EV technologies and build sound infrastructure for EV use," said the initiative.

Jiading positioned itself as an international EV pilot zone in 2011 and has built an EV test drive center. Now in the zone, people can book an EV via smart phone, return it at any rental outlet and pay the fee online.

Themed with Innovation, Participation and Green Transportation, more than 500 EV professionals from US, Germany and 13 other countries joined the forum.

China's new-energy vehicle development formally started in 2009, when China started the "Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles" pilot project and the central government selected 10 cities to take part. The list was expanded to 25 cities in 2010.

The State Council released its energy conservation and new-energy vehicles plan in 2012, which set the target for the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in operation by 2015 as 500,000 units, with the fleet to rise to 5 million units by 2020.