Gasgoo.com (Shanghai September 28) - The Ministry of Environmental Protection has begun collecting public opinions for its so-called "measurement methods for emissions from light-duty hybrid electric vehicles", the China Securities Journal reported today. The opinions will be used to determine emission standards for classifying hybrid electrics.

The standards will be used to determine standardized emission requirements, pollution controls and on-board diagnostics for lightweight gas-powered hybrids with top speeds of 50 km/h or above. It will also help specify model, production and inspection requirements for said vehicles.

According to industry estimates, there will be around 425,000 hybrid vehicles in the country by 2016, constituting 1.7 percent of all automobiles. Different research bodies anticipate the amount of hybrids manufactured annually worldwide to be between 1 million and 3 million in 2015.

FAW, Dongfeng, Changan, Chery, SAIC, BYD, Great Wall and other manufacturers have already begun researching and developing hybrid technology. There were 226 different new energy models registered in the country by April, 14 of which were lightweight hybrids. Among them, only one was a plug-in style electric.

Despite the fact that these sorts of vehicles have yet to become a national standard, they are already becoming more and more significant at municipal and regional levels. Many in the industry see the recent government move as further recognition of the importance of hybrid vehicles in the country's future.