China is the biggest new-car market in the world, and has been since 2010.
The world's largest country also has some of the smoggiest cities on the planet, and that's a source of increasing public agitation.
So at national, state, and local levels, a variety of Chinese government entities are using carrots and sticks to encourage the sale of more zero-emission vehicles.
DON'T MISS: Honda to launch electric car in China next year too, joining Toyota, reluctantly
In the U.S., meanwhile, the state of California's zero-emission vehicle sales mandates start to rise for the 2018 model year.
On the national front, however, the election of President Donald Trump appears to have thrown both the future and the enforcement of environmental regulation into question.
With all this in mind, we surveyed our Twitter followers to find out what they thought about China's role in the future of electric cars.
How likely is it China will outpace the U.S. in electric-car adoption?
— Green Car Reports (@GreenCarReports) April 18, 2017
Specifically, we asked if respondents thought that China would outpace the U.S. in electric-car adoption.
The answer was a resounding, "YES!"
Specifically, 61 percent said it was "very likely" and another 23 percent said it was "somewhat likely" that China would overtake the U.S. in adopting cars with plugs.
CHECK OUT: Why Toyota's 'agonizing' U-turn toward electric cars? Because China says so
A mere 12 percent said that outcome was "very unlikely" and 4 percent chimed in with "somewhat unlikely."
When more than four out of five respondents suggest that China is more important to electric cars than the U.S., that tells you something.
We'll leave it to you to figure out what that is.
2014 Tesla Model S in China
Our latest coverage, linked above, notes that hydrogen fuel-cell proponents Toyota and Honda will both be forced to design, build, and sell battery-electric cars in China starting within a couple of years.
Meanwhile, to get a sense for all the latest green concept cars and production vehicles that were shown in China last week, visit our Shanghai auto show news page.
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