Plug-in cars, including both plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, accounted for two in three new passenger vehicles sold in China in September, according to industry data.
Overall, Chinese car sales have declined this year, but the drop has been far steeper for conventional vehicles than for electric vehicles, according to figures from the China Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group.
Plug-in cars accounted for roughly half of new sales at the end of last year, and their market share has climbed since the Iran war sent fuel prices soaring. Erica Downs, an energy policy researcher at Columbia University, told Carbon Brief that the conflict is “reinforcing China’s electrification of road transport.”
The uptake of plug-in cars has helped China ramp down oil imports in the wake of the conflict, according to an analysis from the Brookings Institution. Energy think tank Ember found that in the first six months of the war, China’s EV fleet allowed it to save an estimated $14 billion on oil imports.
“The countries that invested in electric vehicles before this crisis are now better protected and a growing number are following,” said Euan Graham, senior energy analyst at Ember. “Every electric car on the road reduces exposure to volatile oil markets, and as fleets grow so does the protection against future supply shocks.”
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