Shanghai, how you've changed

Dear all,
Stepping out onto a street in China is always an assault on the senses: an ever-shifting cornucopia of unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells. Even in a city as relatively international as Shanghai, a 10-minute walk invariably leaves you feeling exhilarated, unclean and slightly unsettled.
So after a three-year break from visiting - a period in which China largely isolated itself from the wider world through its 'zero Covid' policy - you might expect our first experience of a Shanghai street to be particularly intense.
And yet, on arrival in the city for this year's Shanghai motor show, the first thing you notice is how surprisingly quiet it is.
Granted, China is still loud: the country retains an ability to develop machines that produce annoying bongs, beeps and jingles that could come from nowhere else on Earth.
What we're talking about here is road noise. There are still an awful lot of vehicles on the road but, in the centre of Shanghai at least, the proportion of them running quietly on electric power is, somewhat ironically, impossible to ignore.
It's visible, too, thanks to the green number plates that denote New Energy Vehicles - EVs and plug-in hybrids capable of zero-emission running. Around 1.2 million EVs were sold in China in 2019, around 4.7% of the market; last year, about 22% of all cars sold-six million or so- were electric, despite the phasing out of direct subsidies in favour of a credit system.
Unsurprisingly, many older vehicles are still on the roads, and as you edge further away from Shanghai's centre on inevitably traffic-snarled elevated highways, so the proportion of green plates starts to dip - but not dramatically so.
Denne historien er fra May 10, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 10, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på

RANGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Can range-extender tech finally deliver on its early promise? STEPHEN DOBIE finds out from the experts

Looking for rubble
The Land Rover Defender Octa promises to be fast, fun and formidable off road, but can another car do it better?

SKODA SUPERB ESTATE
After 11k miles, has our five-star car also become a long-term legend?

AUDI A5 E-HYBRID
New executive car gains a tax-busting yet potent plug-in system

Testing, testing
Road testers like me have expended plenty of column inches over the past couple of decades writing about something we call perceived quality.

POLESTAR 3 SINGLE MOTOR
Athletic SUV becomes lighter, rangier and cheaper. Deal of the century?

VW PLOTS 400BHP ID 2 R WITH IN-WHEEL MOTORS
Four-wheel-drive performance EV will sit above ID 2 GTI and pave way for more R cars

TOYOTA URBAN CRUISER
How good is the Suzuki eVitara in reality? Its Toyota twin has the answer

ELECTRIC GLC USHERS IN NEW ERA FOR MERCEDES
EQC SUV successor arrives in September with next-gen look and tech

TOYOTA BZ4X
Toyota responds to criticism of electric family crossover with big update