SAIC said its plans for 2010 include the introduction of a hybrid Roewe 750 sedan. The new technology could improve fuel effiency by 20% over the existing non-green model of the same sedan. SAIC’s “blueprint” for  new energy vehicles was unveiled this week, according to a report by ShanghaiDaily.com.

Another plug-in hybrid version of the Roewe 550 mid-class sedan that could slash fuel consumption by 50% is due to hit the market by 2012, when SAIC’s self-developed fleet of electric vehicles will start being marketed.

SAIC is partnering with GM and VW on these new-energy vehicles and says its investment on this new category of alternative autos will rise to nearly $900 million (6 billion yuan) because of its focus on hybrid models, and on cars that rely solely on electric power.

As China’s economy has grown in both scale and sophistication, concerns about energy use and the environment have advanced, as well – stoking demand for energy-efficient cars and trucks. China’s automakers have already invested millions in these new transportation technologies, and Chinese carmakers have pushed for mass-production to begin in order to meet this escalation in demand.

Challenges and obstacles abound. Alternative-energy vehicles cost a lot more, and they require a national service-and-refueling “infrastructure” to be able to operate. That infrastructure doesn’t exist in China, right now.

Despite these problems, however, China’s government wants to 60,000 new-energy vehicles – including plug-in electric and plug-in hybrid cars – on the country’s highways streets by 2012.

SAIC has reportedly inked a deal with the Shanghai city government to provide roughly 1,000 new-energy vehicles – including all-electric, fuel cell and hybrids – for the 2010 World Expo.

SAIC has already unveiled several “green” cars over the past couple of years, including a VW Passat Lingyu – a car developed specifically for the Chinese market – and a hybrid Buick LaCrosse sedan (called the Eco-Hybrid).

China’s Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. also said it would launch two hybrid models this year after a pure electric car rolled off the assembly line in February.

According to ShanghaiDaily, China has granted production permits to five models, including BYD Co. Ltd.’s F3 dual-mode electric car, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd.’s Jiexun-HEV hybrid and Toyota Motor Corp.’s (NYSE ADR: TM) Prius hybrid, which has battled perceptions that its price is much higher than hybrid models made by rival carmakers.

Source: SAIC, China’s No. 1 Carmaker, to Launch Series of Hybrid Cars

As I said on Friday, Congress just passed a US$57 billion alternative energy plan – that promises to do little but make the headlines.

Meanwhile, in another chamber of Congress, executives of big-oil firms were called on the carpet to account for recent sky-rocketing crude oil prices.

Congress wants to know why crude oil is soaring past US$135 a barrel – double the price of last year! Hmm… more demand than supply maybe?

Of course Congress just doesn’t get it! As the CEO of ConocoPhillips correctly points out, “The fundamental laws of supply and demand are at work.” We are getting squeezed by oil exporting nations that are “managing demand for their own interest,” and severely restricted access to energy reserves both at home and abroad.

Today, the International Energy Agency said that a major supply crunch is looming unless the world’s oil majors can ratchet up production by 12.5 million barrels a day within the next seven years. Uh… don’t count on it.

Decades of underinvestment in new energy exploration and development, and a seismic shift in who controls access to new energy deposits means sustainable high prices for years to come. Fossil fuels are a dead-end for American big-oil firms – it’s time to embrace an alternative energy future!

MIKE BURNICK, Senior Editor & Global Markets Analyst

Source: Congress Doesn’t Understand $135 Oil