Another Chinese Tesla wannabe? This one may be different With a production licence and its own factory, Yudo Auto stands out from most of China’s electric-vehicle makers. Its first car, the π1 is a solid offering

Spurred on by Beijing’s drive to go electric, the last few years have seen a slew of companies spring up with plans to enter the burgeoning new-energy vehicle market. Along with a desire to cut pollution and reduce reliance on imported oil, China hopes to position itself as a world leader in electric vehicles, something it has struggled to achieve with petrol-powered cars. To encourage sales, the government offers research and development grants and consumer subsidies, and has exempted new-energy vehicles from ownership quotas in its bigger cities.

Mark Andrews has written about everything from Japanese houses to heli hikes on New Zealand glaciers, test drives of Chinese cars to bar and restaurant reviews. He currently specialises in travel articles and reviews of Chinese cars plus articles about the Chinese auto industry.