What's going on?

Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker BYD announced it sold 250% more electric vehicles (EVs) in December than the same time last year � more than three of its biggest rivals put together (tweet this).

What does this mean?

BYD delivered almost 20,000 passenger EVs last month � far more than Nio�s 7,000, Li Auto�s 6,100, and Xpeng�s 5,700. That makes it China�s EV frontrunner, even if it still has some way to go before it catches up with the global number one: Tesla reported 500,000 deliveries for the whole of 2020 � almost four times more than its Chinese rival.

But if anyone can compete, BYD can: the carmaker already has a firm foothold in its home country, which is the biggest car market in the world and has some ambitious carbon neutrality targets. That might be why China�s expecting �new energy vehicles� � think EVs, hybrids, and hydrogen-powered vehicles � to jump from 5% of all current new car sales to around 20% by 2025.

Why should I care?

Zooming out: Wahey, Norway.�

No matter how important China is, Norway�s still leading the pack when it comes to electric vehicle adoption. Just over half the new cars sold in the country last year were electric, setting a new record. And it�s aiming for bigger and greener things, targeting a 2025 deadline to stop selling diesel and petrol cars altogether.

For you personally: Start your engines.

Batteries are by far the most important and most expensive part of EVs, meaning it�s not just the carmakers themselves that stand to profit from the electric revolution. So if you think EVs have a bright future, you might want to invest in the commodities used to make the batteries, or in the companies that have cracked next-generation battery technology.