Chinese companies are gearing-up to be among the sale leaders in what has been touted as the next big trend in the car industry: the electric car.
The big car makers are all working on electric models and Chinese brands such as Chery, Great Wall Motors and BYD are said to be in the front row of manufacturers seeking to bring the car to the market.
Neville Crichton, the executive chairman of importer A-teco says he hopes to have electric models from his Chinese suppliers on Australian roads by the end of next year.
"As a city car I think they'd be quite practical...I mean most of the cars have a range of 140 km which would get them from their home to their office and back without a recharge"
But a lot questions still have to be resolved. Infrastructure has to be put in place and the cars have to meet stringent safety requirements.
Mr Crichton says electric vehicles will also have to be affordable.
"If you want to bring a Chinese car, in it would naturally need to be competitively priced," he said.
"Naturally people will pay a premium but not 200 per cent," he said.
Organisations which want to flout their green credentials are tipped to be among the first buyers, but just how big the potential market is hotly disputed.
French auto giant Renualt, which is investing heavily in a shift to electric has made the bold prediction electric vehicles will account for 10 per cent of the global car sales by 2020. Others estimate just half a per cent.
Richard Johns, the head of consulting firm Australian Automotive Intelligence says electric cars will become a significant part of the Australian and world vehicle market.
Car makers Mitsubishi and Nissan are already trialling electric models in Japan.
Full story
