Economy & Business18 Oct 2026 · about 6 min

ICE Vehicle Sales Crash 49%(!) While EV Share Jumps to 67%(!) — China EV Sales Report for September

The brief

ICE vehicles use an internal-combustion engine and do not plug in. BEVs run entirely on electricity stored in a battery. PHEVs combine a plug-in battery system with an internal-combustion engine. These categories separate conventional cars from vehicles that can use external electric charging. The article reports September shares of 45% for BEVs and 22% for PHEVs. Adding them produces a record 67% plug-in share. That calculation explains why reports often group BEVs and PHEVs under the broader EV or plug-in category, while still showing their separate contributions. The distinction matters because PHEVs are not fully battery-electric. China’s 2026 total reached 58% for plug-in vehicles, while BEVs alone reached 39%. The article expects 2026’s final EV share to exceed 60%, with BEVs above 40%, showing both technologies are contributing to the market’s shift.

What do ICE, BEV, and PHEV mean, and why are all three included when people report China’s EV share?

The article reports September shares of 45% for BEVs and 22% for PHEVs. Adding them produces a record 67% plug-in share. That calculation explains why reports often group BEVs and PHEVs under the broader EV or plug-in category, while still showing their separate contributions.

The distinction matters because PHEVs are not fully battery-electric. China’s 2026 total reached 58% for plug-in vehicles, while BEVs alone reached 39%. The article expects 2026’s final EV share to exceed 60%, with BEVs above 40%, showing both technologies are contributing to the market’s shift.

How large was China’s September car market, and what were the shares of BEVs, PHEVs, and plug-free ICE vehicles?

China’s overall September car market totaled around 1.6 million sales, down 28% year over year. Despite that contraction, plug-in vehicles represented a record 67% of the market. The result shows that the market’s composition changed sharply even as total demand weakened.

BEVs accounted for 45% of sales, while PHEVs contributed 22%. Together, those categories reached the 67% plug-in share reported in the article. Subtracting that share from the total leaves approximately 33% for plug-free ICE vehicles. This is a remainder calculated from the article’s percentages.

The comparison with earlier results is significant. China’s 2026 plug-in share rose to 58%, already four percentage points above 2025’s full-year result. BEVs alone reached 39%, compared with 33% in 2025. The article expects the 2026 total to exceed 60%, with BEVs above 40%.

How could EV share reach a record 67% even though plug-in vehicle sales fell 17% year over year?

Market share depends on both sales of one category and the size of the entire market. In September, China’s overall market fell 28% year over year to around 1.6 million cars. Plug-in sales also declined, dropping 17%, yet their share still rose because conventional ICE sales collapsed even faster.

Pure ICE sales crashed 49%, according to the article. That decline removed many gasoline-powered vehicles from the denominator used to calculate market share. BEVs contributed 45% and PHEVs 22%, so their combined share reached 67% even without plug-in sales growth.

This makes September different from earlier record months, when strong EV sales drove the percentage higher. The article calls this record mainly an ICE crash. It also shows why share and volume tell different stories: plug-ins sold fewer units, but they represented a much larger portion of a shrinking market.

What does a 49% collapse in ICE sales reveal about the source of China’s shift toward electric vehicles?

The 49% fall in pure ICE sales reveals that China’s electrification is being driven by substitution, not simply by adding electric cars alongside a healthy combustion market. Conventional vehicles lost ground much faster than plug-in vehicles, even though plug-in sales themselves declined 17% year over year.

The result was a record 67% plug-in share in September. BEVs supplied 45% and PHEVs 22%. The total market fell 28% to around 1.6 million cars, but the ICE collapse was deeper. That imbalance allowed electrified vehicles to occupy a larger share of a smaller market.

The article describes ICE extinction as visible in rankings too. Toyota’s Corolla Cross and RAV4 were unusual ICE entries in the top 10, after several months when China’s overall top 10 was entirely plug-in. The article expects China’s 2026 EV share above 60%.

Why are low-priced, feature-rich Chinese EVs such as models from BYD and Geely able to challenge established brands like Tesla and Toyota?

Chinese EV makers are challenging established brands by pairing affordable prices with frequent updates and new technology. The article describes intense competition among Geely, BYD, Leapmotor, Wuling, Chery, Xiaomi, and Tesla. This gives buyers many alternatives across small, compact, and SUV categories.

Geely’s Xingyuan was developed as a BYD Dolphin-like car for BYD Seagull money, around $10,000. BYD’s new Song Ultra adds lidar and 1,500 kW DC charging, while starting at 152,000 yuan with a 76 kWh battery. These examples show how price and features work together as competitive tools.

Tesla’s Model Y still sold 50,359 units and won September’s best-seller title, helped by its longer-wheelbase L version. However, the article says the six-year-old model looks old beside competitors moving to 800V platforms and adding features. Toyota’s ICE models also appeared unusually in the top 10.

How do PHEVs provide an alternative to both conventional ICE cars and fully battery-electric vehicles, and what trade-offs do they involve?

A PHEV offers a middle path between a conventional ICE car and a BEV. It can connect to external power and use its battery for electric driving, but it also retains an internal-combustion engine. An ICE vehicle relies on combustion, while a BEV uses only stored battery electricity.

In China’s September figures, PHEVs made up 22% of sales. BEVs added 45%, producing the record 67% plug-in share. The article therefore counts PHEVs with BEVs when measuring vehicles that have a plug, while reporting the two technologies separately.

The trade-off is visible in the categories themselves. PHEVs help buyers choose an electrified vehicle without moving immediately to a fully battery-electric model. However, they are not BEVs, so they do not represent complete battery-electric adoption. The article expects China’s overall EV share above 60% in 2026, with BEVs alone above 40%.

How do internal-combustion and battery-electric vehicles convert stored energy into motion, and why does the transition to BEVs require different infrastructure and industry capabilities?

An internal-combustion vehicle stores energy in fuel and releases it through combustion inside an engine. A BEV stores energy in a battery and uses that electricity to drive an electric motor. The article identifies ICE vehicles as conventional cars and BEVs as one part of the plug-in market.

The two systems require different supporting capabilities. Combustion vehicles depend on fuel delivery and engine manufacturing. BEVs depend on battery production, charging access, electric power systems, and software or electronics. The article points to competitors moving toward 800V platforms and faster charging, showing how electric technology shapes vehicle competition.

China’s transition is already large in market terms. BEVs reached 45% of September sales, while plug-ins overall reached 67%. The article says the 2026 EV share should exceed 60%, and BEVs should pass 40%. It also argues that this rapid electrification puts the ICE industry in serious trouble.

This brief was written by AI from the original reporting and checked by other models. Names, figures and quotes come from the source; read it for full context.