New energy vehicles are vehicles with advanced technical principles, new technologies and new structures that use non-conventional vehicle fuels as a power source (or conventional vehicle fuels but with new on-board power units) and integrate advanced technologies in the power control and drive of the vehicle. New energy vehicles include: hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), pure electric vehicles (BEV), fuel cell vehicles (FCEV), hydrogen engine vehicles, as well as gas vehicles, alcohol ether vehicles and so on.

The main focus is on pure electric vehicles, which are vehicles powered by on-board power and driven by electric motors and meet the requirements of road traffic and safety regulations. Because of its relatively low environmental impact compared to traditional vehicles, its future is widely favoured, but the technology is not yet mature.

The Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) is a vehicle powered entirely by rechargeable batteries (such as lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries). Although it has a long history of 186 years, it has been limited to certain specific applications and the market is relatively small. The main reason for this is due to the high price, short life span, large form factor and weight, and long charging times that are common to all types of batteries.