Shifting to electric vehicles is an essential part of tackling climate change and China is doing far better than the West

BYD Auto sells more electric cars than any other firm in the world Chen Wen/China News Service/VCG/Getty

FORGET Tesla – the world’s biggest electric car manufacturer is a Chinese company you have probably never heard of. With the age of the fossil-fuel car drawing to an end, electric vehicles (EVs) from China could be on track for global dominance – assuming that the hundreds of start-ups in the sector don’t skid out and crash.

China buys more EVs than any other nation. Last year, 1.25 million electric cars – 984,000 of which were solely battery-powered – were sold in the country, …