The Chinese city of Shenzhen announced this week that it will deploy an additional 1000 electric buses and 500 electric taxis, all manufactured by Chinese automaker BYD.

When it comes to EVs, China seems to have the appetite of a dozen dragons. The city of Shenzhen, which already boasts the world’s largest zero-emissions public transport fleet, announced this week that it will deploy an additional 1000 electric buses and 500 electric taxis, all manufactured by Chinese automaker BYD.

Local official Xiangzhen Lu said, “Shenzhen is the first city in China to implement a subsidy for new energy vehicles and the first city to launch consumer sales of the BYD e6 [5-passenger electric hatchback].”

Shenzhen also has a long list of incentives for private EV use. The city plans to impose fees on emissions from gasoline cars while rewarding EV drivers for every mile traveled, and also offers reduced electricity prices to EV owners. And get this: China’s Southern Power Grid Company has agreed to install, free of charge, two chargers for every EV owner in Shenzhen — one at the driver’s home and one near his/her place of business. The city plans to install over 6,000 new charging stations in 2012.

Image: Renato Ganoza