SHANGHAI, Jan 16 (SMM) – Hainan province will ban sales of diesel or petrol cars from March 1 when new air pollution measures and laws take effect.

Hainan, the smallest province in China, is the first province to implement such a ban.

With hestening the construction of charging facilities, the province would step up its efforts in promoting new-energy vehicles and aims to eliminate diesel or petrol cars by 2030.

A low rate of car ownership and the warm climate will support NEV growth.

The number of vehicles in Hainan stood at 1 million units as of the end of 2017, compared to 27.23 million units in Guangdong.

Cold weather might shorten the driving range of electric vehicles and slow the pace of charging. This would not be a problem in Hainan as temperatures in the coldest month of January averaged 22°C.

In the first 11 months of 2018, sales of NEVs accounted for 1.6% of overall car sales in Hainan.