The streets of Beijing have changed dramatically within just a few years. The noisy, smelly thrum of traffic has been replaced by an unusual quiet for a megacity. Roads course with a stream of mostly electric vehicles, all with their distinct, green license plates.
This is not just a Beijing phenomenon. For those arriving in many of China’s major cities from countries dominated by gas-guzzlers, the quiet will be their first impression, said Li Shuo, director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
It’s like stepping into the future, he told CNN.
By any measure, China’s EV growth has been extraordinary. More than half of new cars sold are electric, putting the world’s largest automarket on a path to all but erase gas-powered cars over the coming decades. Last year, China’s EV sales soared to 11 million, a nearly 40% increase on 2023, according to data from UK research firm Rho Motion. It’s an “irreversible transformation,” Shuo said.
The change to electric scooters was the most noticeable thing in China. It was especially noticeable after coming from Vietnam where they still choke on scooter exhaust. In China they like to ride on the sidewalk also so you get the shit scared out of you when someone comes right up behind you without a sound.
This is the future! * Gets rammed by an electric scooter on sidewalk *
I can’t tell you how much nicer it is to have a hybrid or ev bus pass you as a pedestrian than a massive rumbling stinking diesel.
I also prefer electric cars, but goddamn if I haven’t gotten a heart attack multiple times from a sneaky silent ev fly past me minding my own business walking on the road. (not every road has sidewalks in the non-US city where I live)
You’re obviously not a true red blooded American! True patriots enjoy being choked to death by exhaust fumes!
Trumpism will pass, and gasoline cars go the way of the horse and buggy. The US will just take longer to catch up with the rest of the world’s progress.
US looks more and more left behind every decade…
Bruh, what’s your public transit solution for folks living outside major metropolitan areas (something the US has in spades)? When someone says small town America think towns with sub 5,000 people.
There are small towns in Japan sub 5000 right next to their shinkaisen bullet train
Even in Europe most rural small towns I saw in, say, the Alsace region had a bus line at best but most used cars.
That bus in the countryside is scheduled every hour from my experience? No nice frequencies, especially if you are tired and want to get somewhere.
