(Photo/Xinhua)

Pure electric vehicles will become a major force in the global auto market by 2035, following a five-year peak of sales for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), said Ouyang Minggao, Executive Vice President of China EV100, a nonprofit organization and third-party think tank that aims to boost the development of the EV industry.

Ouyang, also an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, made the remarks at the China EV100 Forum 2020 recently held in Beijing.

Ouyang believes that the new energy vehicle industry is still moving in the right direction despite the downward trend the market is currently going through.

Chinese companies represented by BYD and CATL have enhanced their efforts in technological innovation, Ouyang explained, adding that they have both launched new battery technologies and further expanded the scale and size of supporting companies.

The market value of Tesla has exceeded $70 billion, making the company the third-most valuable carmaker after Volkswagen and Toyota, the academician said. He believes that all of the above indicates the sound development of the new energy vehicle industry in the future.

In addition, thanks to new quick-charging technologies, regular chargers are able to recharge 80 percent of batteries in 45 minutes, and supercharge facilities can achieve the same amount in just 15 minutes.