When visiting any city with a large population, most travellers would expect to jump off public transport and instantly be hit with a barrage of sights and sounds. However, one US expat living in China has revealed the incredible – and quite different – reality emerging in the county while on a recent visit to a neighbouring city.
US citizen Garrett took a trip to the city of Suzhou, about an hour from his home in Shanghai. Arriving there, he was left astounded while standing beside the road because, despite cars and motorbikes zooming past, there was virtually no traffic noise.
«Quite a busy intersection but super quiet,» he told Yahoo News of the surprising moment, which highlights just how successful the uptake of electric vehicles has been in the Asian economic powerhouse.
«The silence on the streets is fantastic; even in a city of 30 million people, the streets are incredibly calm,» he said.
Electric car driving ‘just normal’ in China
For Garrett, he’s seen firsthand that it’s hard for Westerners to understand why this has happened.
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«As I have seen in China, sustainability isn’t political at all; it’s a widely acknowledged necessity for the planet and for economics,» he said, explaining that EV-driving «isn’t cool, it’s just normal».
In 2024, China sold nearly 13 million fully electric and hybrid vehicles, meaning EVs accounted for 40 per cent of total sales in the Chinese market.
The number of sales is four times as many as the United States. In Australia, that figure was just 114,000 in the same time frame, according to the Electric Vehicle Council.
Australians are continuing to buy more electric vehicles than ever before, according to recent sales records. But traditional brands like Toyota and Ford still dominate new car sales, with Toyota topping the charts for an incredible 23 years.
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Garrett said his Chinese colleagues are more surprised to hear that someone doesn’t drive an EV.
«Many of my colleagues have EVs, and when I pointed that out, they responded with ‘oh, yeah, don’t you drive one?’,» he said.
«In my view, I think it’s because people don’t seem to politicise sustainability.»
This was laid bare as US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk exchanged in a very public back-and-forth earlier this week, signalling their relationship may well be over.
The Tesla boss criticised the president’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ aimed to fast-track policy around spending, revenue and the debt ceiling, which would see electric vehicle subsidies scrapped in the US.
«I don’t believe America will get to the level China is at ever without significant political change,» Garrett said.
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«And as America is a very individualistic culture, it will be very hard to sell the public on the benefit to the greater society. Most people I know in China just say ‘Well, driving EVs is better for everyone and the government supports that’.»
China leading electric vehicle market around the world
China is leading the way with EV uptake largely due to government support through subsidies and tax breaks. Licence plates for regular cars with internal combustion engines face long waits and high costs to get the plates, but for EVs it’s free.
Homegrown support has helped Chinese automakers expand across the world, with countless new models hitting the market in Australia and worldwide seemingly every month.
BYD took the world by storm when photos of its fleet of car carriers recently emerged. The brand, commonly seen on Aussie roads, is moving with «unprecedented speed» to overtake US rival Tesla as the global leader in electric vehicles.
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Car expert Paul Maric recently returned from the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, where Chinese car brands displayed their latest innovations.
«China is on another level entirely,» he told Yahoo News recently.
«Anyone in Australia who thinks they’re just going to go away sometime soon is in for a shock.
«I think eventually it will just lead to cars becoming more affordable,» he said of the growing expansion of the Chinese industry.
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