Report From Beijing [Industry Pulse]

As a power electronics professional, but also a consumer, you are likely seeing frequent news stories about electric vehicles (EVs), and perhaps have driven or even own an electric car. In 2021, I purchased my first EV. But, it wasn’t a Tesla—300,000 cars sold in the U.S. in 2021 and 4 million sold globally that same year. It was a two-wheeled electric scooter, a mint-green Yadea which was one of 41 million sold just in China the same year. Today’s column is a bit of a departure from our regularly scheduled industry analysis, as I take a look on sustainability that’s niche where I’m from (the United States) but an everyday reality here in Beijing. Let’s take a look at this power electronics application that is a piece of the sustainable transport puzzle in many places, especially in IEEE Region 10 (Asian Pacific), and is only predicted to grow in popularity.