Electric vehicles reach tipping point in China, surge to 51% market share

Electric vehicles have reached a tipping point in China. They now represent the majority of the new car market, surging to 51% market share.

China and electric vehicles are linked together.

The majority of the world’s electric vehicles (BEVs and PHEVs) are both built and sold in China.

In 2024, global electric car production reached around 17 million vehicles, with China accounting for about 12 million of those — over 70% of the world’s total.

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Roughly 11 million of the 12 million EVs were also sold in China. The rest were exported to other markets.

This is impressive in itself, but China has a massive automotive market. How significant are these EV volumes within the market?

It turns out that electric vehicles just reached a tipping point in China.

According to registration data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), electric vehicle sales have achieved over 50% market share for each of the last five months.

Year-to-date, electric vehicles market share currently sits at 51% of new car sales in China. This is often viewed as a tipping point that quickly leads to electric vehicle sales dominating the entire market.

For example, EV sales reached over 50% market share in Norway in 2020 and by 2024, they were at 90%.

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are also growing rapidly and already account for the majority of EV sales in China.

BEVs hold 31% market share of China’s passenger vehicle market.

Electrek’s Take

This is truly impressive. The world’s largest car market has an EV market share of over 50%. It shows the power of China. When it says “go, we are going electric”, they go electric.

They are also producing increasingly better products because EV manufacturers in China operate in the world’s most competitive EV market.

There are numerous models available, and it’s unlikely to be sustainable, but the best will rise to the top, and then they will set their sights on conquering overseas markets, which some of them are already doing.

It doesn’t bode well for automakers in North America and Europe unless they learn from China and commit fully to electric vehicles.

For example, Tesla, the largest EV company outside of China, has seen its sales decline in China year-to-date amid the surge in EV sales in the country. This is not a good sign. Tesla is not as competitive within China, even when producing its EVs locally, as it is outside of China, where the EV competition is less.