Survey: 60 percent of Chinese interested in buying plug-in vehicles, 5 times higher than Americans

Citizens of which country are most likely to buy – or at least consider purchasing – a plug-in vehicle than any other nation? According to a recent survey conducted by Ernst & Young's Global Automotive Center, China leads the way out of all the countries surveyed. Now, you're probably wondering how this can be and might wonder if the U.S. was excluded from the survey, but that's simply not the case. Not only was the U.S. represented, other major players in the plug-in field were there, too, including Japan, Germany, France and the UK.

China didn't just come out on top, it smoked the other countries. The numbers show that 60 percent of Chinese buyers would consider purchasing a plug-in vehicle (like the BYD E6, pictured) in the near future. That's a significant number, but here's the real shocker: it's five times higher than the amount of people who would consider buying a plug-in in the U.S., Germany, UK or Japan! What's going on here? We would think that a technologically-advanced nation like Japan, which adores its hybrid cars and tiny vehicles, or the UK, which is fighting gas prices of U.S. $8 a gallon, would lead the survey. We're a bit perplexed on this and may have to dig a little deeper to find out what's really going on here. In the meantime, any thoughts?

[Source: Ernst & Young]