Production of four new energy models, including three electric vehicles from Lifan Motors and Chery Auto as well as one hybrid vehicle from Dongfeng Motor, were approved recently by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.

China's small car manufacturer Lifan Motors displayed at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show its all-electric vehicle, Lifan 620, which started its trial run in Chongqing in July and will go on sale next year.

Data show that the car can travel as far as 160 km on a single charge and be fully charged in 7-8 hours. In quick charging mode, it takes thirty minutes to give the Lifan 620 an 80% charge. The owner pays only 10 yuan ($1.49) for electricity when running the car for 100 km.

It is reported that Lifan's cost for the 620 is pretty high as other suppliers are currently providing batteries to the model, so it is expected to be sold at no less than 100,000 yuan. Lifan is now working on a taxi project in Chongqing and Shanghai, aiming to achieve its goal of promoting the all-electric 620 cars.

Besides the Lifan 620, one Chery electric vehicle and one Chery Ruiqi electric vehicle, which are based on the platform of Chery A21 (Chery A5) and Chery S18 (Ruiqi M1) respectively, are also listed on the new car catalog and both are ranged-extended electric vehicles.

Equipped with the small gasoline engine and permanent maganet synchronous generator, both Chery vehicles rely only on batteries for power when running less than 100 km, but when reaching their maximum mileage or the vehicles' battery power runs out, the generator automatically starts the motor and provides power to the battery or motor. Chery Auto will launch both the ranged-extended EVs in China next year.

The fourth new energy model that has received the "birth certificate" is Dongfeng Fengshen S30 BSG which will be put on the domestic market at the end of this year. The S30 BSG, based on the Fengshen S30 sedan, features an auto-start stop system.

The belt-starter-generator (BSG) system can stop the engine when the driver is idling for a certain period, and can start to run in 0.4 seconds. Moreover, drivers can switch the Fengshen S30 BSG from traditional to BSG economy mode. The car is likely to be priced at thousands higher than the Fengshen S30 sedan.