Sales of electrified vehicles in China once again surpassed the 1 million mark, bouncing back after a multi-month slump and marking only the third month the milestone has been passed.
New figures published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) and reported in English by CnEVPost show that sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) – referring to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs), and fuel cell vehicles – reached 1,049,000 in June.
This marked a 9.8 per cent increase over the previous month and a 30.1 per cent increase over June 2023 and marks only the third time that NEV sales have surpassed the 1 million mark – after November and December of 2023.
Battery electric vehicles accounted for the largest share of all NEV sales in China in June, with 612,000 units sold, up 7.4 per cent over the same period a year earlier and up 4.97 per cent over May.
PHEV sales set a new record high of 436,000 units, up 85.1 per cent year-on-year, and up 17.52 per cent from May. Meanwhile, only 1,000 fuel cell vehicles were sold in June.
NEV sales accounted for 41.1 per cent of all new car sales in China in June, a marginal increase from May’s 39.5 per cent.
China’s NEV sales numbers include exports, which accounted for only 86,000, but does slide domestic NEV sales to under the 1 million mark – though it looks to be only a matter of time before domestic NEV sales once again surpass the million mark, having done so only once before, in November 2023.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.