For China’s Auto Market, Electric Isn’t the Future. It’s the Present

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/business/china-electric-vehicles.html

By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Claire Fu, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: ...This year, a quarter of all new cars purchased in China will be an all-electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid. By some estimates, more than 300 Chinese companies are making E.V.s, ranging from discount offerings below $5,000 to high-end models that rival Tesla and German automakers. There are roughly four million charging units in the country, double the number from a year ago, with more coming. While other E.V. markets are still heavily dependent on subsidies and financial incentives, China has entered a new phase: Consumers are weighing the features and prices of electric vehicles against gas-powered cars without much consideration of state support. The United States is far behind. This year, the country passed a key threshold of E.V.s accounting for 5 percent of new car sales. China passed that level in 2018. ...Already the biggest E.V. market, China also has one of the fastest growing, with sales expected to double this year to about six million vehicles — more than the rest of the world combined. Of the world’s top-10 best-selling E.V. brands, half are Chinese, led by BYD, which lags only Tesla in global market share and is starting to ship its electric cars abroad. And it’s not just the car sales that are thriving in China. The Chinese battery manufacturers CATL and BYD are the biggest players in the industry, while Beijing holds a tight grip on access to critical raw materials.… 

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