India, March 29 -- China is the biggest electric vehicle market in the world, a battle royale featuring both established carmakers as well as upstarts such as Xiaomi, which launched its first EV on Thursday.

EV makers from China have made inroads into markets from Europe to Southeast Asia and Tesla's Elon Musk described them in January as "the most competitive car companies in the world".

How big is the Chinese EV market?

China's market for EVs dwarfs the rest of the world.

Of all new EVs sold globally in December last year, 69 percent were in China, according to the research firm Rystad Energy.

And of its forecast of 17.5 million EV sales this year, Rystad expects China to account for 11.5 million, or 65 percent.

The explosive rise...