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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Helen Davidson in Taipei

‘High quality, low price and dizzying variety’: how the Chinese switched to electric cars

A mother and her child sit inside an electric vehicle
There were 6.8m electric vehicle sales in in China in 2022, a huge rise from 1.3m in 2021. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence plates, which are rationed by the government.

“It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for free when you buy an EV,” she said.

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