From zero to two million in five years. The record belongs to electric vehicles whose power charge for market share led to two million sales last year from virtually non-existent just five years ago, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA). Registered plug-in and battery-powered vehicles on the roads worldwide rose 60 per cent from the year before, according to IEA's Global EV Outlook 2017 report. China is by far the largest electric car market, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the electric cars sold in the world and more than double the amount sold in the United States. Electric vehicles, such as the Nio ES8 electric sport utility vehicle (above), were shown at the Shanghai motor show in April.