, Columnist
China's Electric Cars Are Actually Pretty Dirty
The technology is only as clean as its sources of power.
Where you get the power matters.
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Could China, the world's largest automobile market, help address the threat of global warming if it went completely electric? The answer isn’t as obvious as it seems.
China has been making great strides toward electrification. Electric vehicle sales are booming: Consumers bought more than 300,000 last year, and more than 5 million are expected to be on the road by 2020. The government just announced bold plans for a wave of big new battery factories.