Incentive policies from 2006 to 2016 and new energy vehicle adoption in 2010–2020 in China

New energy vehicle (NEV) development is key to reducing vehicle pollutant emissions, conserving fuel oil energy, and sustaining both the automotive industry and the transportation industry of a country. China is now ranked first in terms of NEV adoption. Policies are the main driving force. This paper aims to uncover how policies systematically link together to provide support, direct rapid development, regulate various players to cope with the challenges, and achieve an impressive progress in NEV adoption in China. We propose a policy dependency mapping method which enables us to analyze 175 NEV policies from national, Jing-Jin-Ji regional, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei from January 2006 to April 2016, with adoption targets projected from 2016 to 2020. Our research reveals that the NEV policies constitute complex policy systems involving governments at various levels with multiple purposes. The national policies direct local policies and depend upon local policies to implement and meet the decomposed targets, whereas regional policies horizontally coordinate the provincial governments and solve issues across provincial boundaries. Local policies play a key role in implementing the national and regional policies and address different local challenges (such as traffic congestion and local economy development). The NEV policy systems are dynamic, and NEV adoption in local areas is uneven. The public sector is the first breakthrough to promote NEV adoption, followed by a demonstration in the private sector. Beijing takes the lead in terms of both EV adoption and policymaking. Challenges in local protectionism, technology advancement with subsidies phasing out, and subsidies fraud are discussed. These findings help both policy makers and NEV players to understand the NEV development roadmap and create better strategies to promote NEVs in the future.