Shanghai (ZXZC)- Jiading District, a thriving hub for automotive industry of Shanghai, will strive to surpass 100 billion yuan ($15.694 million) in the annual production value of the full hydrogen and fuel cell vehicle (FCV) industrial chain, and deploy at least 3,500 FCVs for demonstration by 2025, local government announced on Dec. 29 in an action plan.

EUNIQ 7 FCV; photo credit: SAIC MAXUS

Under the plan, Jiading District aims to set up over 100 FCV-related corporate headquarters, high-tech enterprises, and technology centers by 2025. The government also expects a total of 18 hydrogen refueling stations to be built, and the retail price of hydrogen to be no higher than 35 yuan ($5.5) per kilogram by that time.

To boost the pilot application of FCVs, Jiading's authority says it will provide capital support for the industrialization of core components, the demonstration implementation in key areas, the construction of hydrogen refueling stations, and the coordination for the inter-district industrial chain. Besides, the talents urgently needed will be granted local residency in priority, and companies will be given subsidies for maintaining intellectual properties and building industrial innovation alliances.

In accordance with another document Jiading government issued in the meantime, the district will support the commercialized applications of tailor-made smart minibuses, intelligent heavy-duty trucks, intelligent transport, self-driving sightseeing shuttles, as well as unmanned vehicles used as cashier-free stores, and lift the top amount of subsidies for companies.

At the launching ceremony, Jiading District signed agreements for a slew of projects related to fields like hydrogen power generation, fuel cell stack, NEV electric control system and e-motor, automotive-grade chip, smart sensor, and production automation, with a total investment of over 3.7 billion yuan ($580.684 million).