China has been trying to get more new-energy automobiles on the road in recent years. Numbers have grown steadily, with the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers now saying there are nearly one million of them in the country. 

However, the second-hand car market in the nation is not quite ready to deal with used e-cars, and this is a problem for many private car owners who plan to upgrade. 

In the biggest second-hand car dealership in Taiyuan, the capital of north China’s Shanxi Province, among the 8,000 or so cars on display, there’s not a single e-car and only a few hybrids. 

Many vendors say they rarely take used electric or hybrid cars. They're concerned that second-hand e-cars won't attract any buyers. 

Zhang Bin has been a second-hand car vendor for many years. He says unlike gasoline cars, the market share of e-cars is still small. Zhang says if he were to take in used e-cars, they could hardly be sold. Another vendor Jin Jiaxin is afraid that no one will buy second-hand e-cars. So now, he doesn’t take any of the vehicles.  

A lack of knowledge regarding the components of an e-car, such as its battery, is also spooking second-hand car dealers. Zhang says they have no idea how to evaluate the battery life of a used e-car. Therefore it’s difficult for them to determine the price of one. 

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says China sold over 500,000 new energy cars last year, a 50 percent increase compared to 2015. And according to the State Council’s Made In China 2025 Strategy, China could have about three million e-cars ten years from now. 

Experts say, as the number of new-energy cars continues to grow, an industrial standard is urgently needed. Wei Hulin, professor of the Business Administration Institute at the Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, says that a national standard for evaluating their performance should be made as early as possible. A recycling mechanism for batteries from used e-cars should also be built in order to promote the sustainable development of the new energy car industry.