EVs become mainstream - China on track to hit EV targets ahead of schedule

About 1 in 10 new passenger cars sold in China is now a battery electric vehicle (BEV). In the first eight months of 2021, Chinese consumers bought 1.79 million electric vehicles (EVs), up 194 percent from the same period last year.

However note that Chinese statistics define electric vehicles are any vehicle that can be plugged in, so this includes plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), hydrogen fuel cells (FCEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

Still, about 80 percent of EVs sold in China are of the BEV type. Estimates put the total number of BEVs sold in China between January and August 2021 to be slightly below 1.5 million.

Total market share of EVs (BEVs and PHEVs) in China now stands at around 15 percent. At its current rate of growth, the middle Kingdom is on track to meet its EV targets three years ahead of schedule.

China aims to have EVs making up 20 percent of new passenger car sales by 2025, but this figure will most likely be reached by 2022.

The top-5 best-selling BEV models in China are as below:

Still, the Chinese central government wants to promote consolidation among EV manufacturers – 479 in total, 70 of them less than two years old.

This government thinks this is too many, and most of them are producing what’s colloquially known in China as ‘industrial garbage’ EVs, and are too weak to compete in international markets.

Also read: Caution: Seiyong S1, a Chinese industrial garbage could end up in Malaysia

It wants to see fewer, but more internationally competitive homegrown EV champions.

Nio and XPeng are China’s closest competitor to Tesla.

Meanwhile, over in Germany, 1 in every 5 new passenger cars sold is a BEV, surpassing diesels and plug-in hybrids.

Also read: Tesla overtakes Toyota in Germany, boosted by China-made Model Y, BEVs become mainstream