Chart: A record two-thirds of car sales in China are now electric vehicles

New-energy vehicles, or NEVs, are cars powered partly or entirely by electricity. In the article, the category mainly includes battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Their growing share matters because combustion-engine car sales in China have been declining since 2017.

Battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, run only on electricity. They have no combustion engine. Plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs, can use electricity but also carry a combustion engine. This gives them two ways to move, unlike BEVs. The difference is important when comparing sales: PHEV sales fell 26% in China during 2026 to date, while BEV sales fell only 4%.

NEVs therefore cover more than one kind of electric car. Together, they reached a record 67% of Chinese new-car sales in September. However, NEV sales still fell 17% that month because the whole passenger-car market shrank even faster. The figures show both the rapid rise of electric vehicles and differences within the category.

A 67% share means that about two out of every three new passenger cars sold in China during September were new-energy vehicles. This is a market majority, not a small niche. It shows how quickly electric models have moved into the centre of China’s car market.

The change is especially striking against the article’s earlier figures. NEVs accounted for just 6% of new-car sales in 2020. Their share rose to 58% across 2026 so far, then reached a record 67% in September. In simple terms, the September share was 9 percentage points above the year-to-date figure and 61 points above 2020.

The percentage rose partly because combustion-engine sales collapsed. Overall passenger-car sales fell 28% year-on-year in September, while combustion-engine sales dropped 43%. NEV sales also fell, by 17%, but not as sharply. A larger share can therefore coexist with fewer electric cars sold when other cars disappear faster.

A market share is relative. It measures how much of total sales belongs to a category, not whether that category sold more cars than before. NEVs reached a record 67% in September even though their own sales declined. This happened because the overall market contracted and combustion-engine cars lost ground faster.

The figures make the mechanism clear. Passenger-car retail sales fell 28% year-on-year in September. NEV sales fell 17%, while combustion-engine vehicle sales dropped 43%. When the shrinking combustion-engine part becomes much smaller, the NEV percentage rises, even if the NEV total also falls. PHEV sales declined 36%, while BEV sales declined 8.5%.

This means the record share does not represent uninterrupted NEV growth. NEV sales were down 13% in 2026 to date, but the category still captured 58% of sales over that period. China’s market is shifting toward electric vehicles partly through stronger NEV resilience and partly through a faster retreat from combustion engines.

Combustion-engine cars are losing sales faster because electric alternatives are taking market share while petrol costs have risen. The article also points to government trade-in policies, new models and a wider shift that has been underway for years. Combustion-engine sales in China peaked in 2017 and have declined ever since.

The 2026 figures show the gap. Fuel-only car sales fell 31% in the first nine months, while battery-EV sales fell only 4%. In September, fuel-only sales dropped 43%, compared with an 8.5% decline for BEVs. The CPCA linked weak combustion-car sales partly to higher petrol prices after the Strait of Hormuz crisis tightened oil supply.

Higher petrol prices raise the running cost of petrol cars. That can encourage buyers to choose electric alternatives, especially when new models and trade-in support are available. PHEVs did not escape the slowdown: their sales fell 26% in 2026 to date. Even so, the crisis is reinforcing China’s longer-term electrification trend.

China’s expanding electric-car fleet has reduced the oil needed for passenger transport. Battery-electric vehicles do not use petrol while driving, and plug-in hybrids can use electricity for some journeys. That matters during the Strait of Hormuz crisis, when conflict tightened oil supplies and raised prices.

Euan Graham, a senior energy analyst at Ember, estimates that China’s passenger-car NEV fleet displaced 143 million barrels of oil during the crisis. China’s oil imports in January through September were also 15% lower than in 2025, equivalent to 470 million barrels. A separate estimate said EVs accounted for 12% of the decrease in China’s oil use after Hormuz.

These figures suggest electrification is cushioning China from oil-market disruption. Erica Downs of Columbia University said the crisis and higher prices are reinforcing China’s road-transport electrification. The article links this strategy partly to oil-supply security, but it does not quantify how much additional oil demand future EV adoption will displace.

Chinese carmakers are exporting more NEVs while domestic demand weakens because overseas markets provide another destination for vehicles that are harder to sell at home. The article reports that NEV exports more than doubled from a year earlier. It presents this as happening alongside slowing Chinese passenger-car sales.

At home, total passenger-car sales fell 28% year-on-year in September. NEV sales fell 17%, and sales declined 13% in 2026 to date. Analysts also describe a changing market, with strong new-model pipelines, government trade-in policies and innovation supporting NEVs, while policy changes and demand pull-forward weakened purchases.

Exports therefore help Chinese manufacturers keep selling while domestic conditions deteriorate. The source does not identify the destination countries, export volumes or individual companies. It also does not establish whether exports will remain at the higher level. It does show that overseas demand has become important as China’s electric-car market matures and domestic growth slows.

Electric vehicles can replace combustion-engine cars most easily when their range fits the driver’s regular journeys and charging is convenient. A BEV depends entirely on electricity, while a PHEV also has a combustion engine. The article defines that difference but does not measure range, charging access or electricity constraints.

In practice, a vehicle used for short daily trips may need less range than a car used for long-distance travel. Drivers also need charging where they park or along longer routes. Charging availability, charging speed and local grid capacity can limit adoption. Electricity supply must be reliable and sufficient, and its emissions depend on how power is generated.

Vehicle use matters too. Cars with heavy workloads, frequent long journeys or limited parking may face tougher requirements. These limits do not overturn China’s reported trend: NEVs reached 67% of September sales. They show why a sales share cannot by itself prove that every type of driving can switch to electric power equally quickly.