Modern
plug-in electric cars have been on sale in the U.S. since December 2010, and in
China even longer. But sales lagged in China until last year, handicapped by
several factors: fewer single-family homes that facilitate charging in the
driver's own garage, a fierce focus on the lowest possible price by
bargain-hungry buyers, and a minimal environmental movement. But now, writing in
Fortune, author Levi Tillemann asks whether the largest auto market in the
world--China sold 23 million vehicles last year, against 16.5 million in the
U.S.--will overtake the U.S. in sales of plug-in vehicles. His answer is: very
possibly. China appears to have sold 27,000 electric cars last December, roughly
twice the U.S. figure.
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