Friday EV startups face wipeout by new rules

China’s electric-vehicle industry, with 200-plus companies backed by a raft of billionaires, verges on a massive shakeout as the government imposes stricter technology standards on fledgling manufacturers and considers limiting their number to only 10.

Any curbs would be aimed at weeding out the weak, said a senior executive with the Statebacked auto manufacturers’ association, and they may push as many as 90 percent of EV startups toward extinction, a government-linked newspaper said.