Sales of plug-in electric vehicles in China were almost four times those in the U.S. last year, and the gap is expected to widen this year. The world's largest car market is engineering a massive shift over the next two decades away from cars with combustion engines toward battery-powered cars. It is a way for China to address hazardous air... China plans to standardize electric-car tech nationally to expand its global lead
Sales of plug-in electric vehicles in China were almost four times those in the U.S. last year, and the gap is expected to widen this year. The world's largest car market is engineering a massive shift over the next two decades away from cars with combustion engines toward battery-powered cars. It is a way for China to address hazardous air... 
Roughly half of everyone alive in the U.S. today has never experienced really bad smog. Those over, say, age 45—big-city residents and Angelenos especially—may recall hazy days in which the sun was barely visible, and air that actually tasted metallic. It's a memorable experience, and it's why the future of electric cars increasingly... ![Buick Velite 5, for sale in China, at 2017 Shanghai auto show [photo: Ronan Glon]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/buick-velite-5-for-sale-in-china-at-2017-shanghai-auto-show-photo-ronan-glon_100604550_t.gif)
The first automobile was invented in Germany in 1885 by Karl Benz, but it was the U.S. that led the building of the global 20th-century automobile industry. Through the turn of the current century, the U.S. new-vehicle market was the world's largest, and General Motors was for decades the world's largest car company. Neither of those is still the... 
You may not have heard it happen, but the global automotive industry changed forever on Thursday. China released its plan to require substantial sales of plug-in electric cars by all makers who want to sell in the world's largest car market, and they start in little more than a year. The levels far exceed those required by California, whose... ![Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car concept [photo: Axel Harries]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/mercedes-benz-eq-electric-car-concept-photo-axel-harries_100597897_t.gif)
It's not only electric cars: China is also now the world's largest market for luxury cars. Audi got an early foothold among party officials and high-ranking government officials, but the allure of global brands has ensured that Mercedes-Benz and BMW sell lots of cars there as well. Now, Mercedes parent company Daimler is combining its local...