The green transition has a surprising new home

PICTURE a country where renewables are being rapidly rolled out and electric vehicle (EV) sales are surging, and you will probably have in mind somewhere smug and northern European; a place with tall people, coalition governments and a yen for cycling holidays. Or perhaps the first thing that pops into your head is the sheer scale of China, which manufactures the bulk of such equipment and last year contributed more than half of the global increase in solar and wind installation.

Think again. For a wave of Chinese-made EVs is flooding new markets. In the past year, sales of EVs have more than tripled in Turkey, where Togg, a local brand, is also popular – they now account for 27 per cent of all cars sold, making the country the fourth-largest European market. Last year, more than 70 per cent of cars imported into Nepal were electric. Some 60 per cent of new cars sold in Ethiopia were battery-powered, after the state banned sales of internal-combustion-engine vehicles altogether. EV sales have doubled in Vietnam over the past year owing, in part, to VinFast, a local carmaker. Two- and three-wheelers are surging in popularity, too.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), a forecaster, reckons that across developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, EV sales rose by 60 per cent in 2024.