Climate News
Two-thirds of new cars sold in China in September were electric, a first
For the first time, new-energy vehicles (NEVs), meaning battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, made up 67% of new car sales in China in September, Carbon Brief reports in a chart-led analysis. That is roughly two in every three cars sold in the world's largest car market.
The rise has been fast. Malaysia's Business Today reported in early September that the NEV share had reached 60.6% in August, then a record. Korea's Digital Today led on the other side of the same figures: sales of petrol and diesel cars, known as internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, plunged 49% in September. Germany's electrive, which tracks the electric-car industry, put the number of pure battery-electric cars sold in China that month at 1.3 million.
Why it matters for the climate: road transport is one of the biggest users of oil, so a rapid switch in China changes the outlook for global fuel demand and transport emissions.
How each outlet framed it
- Carbon Brief — the milestone: a record two-thirds share, shown as a long-run chart.
- Digital Today — the decline: a 49% plunge in combustion-engine car sales.
- electrive — the industry count: 1.3 million battery-electric cars in a single month.
- Business Today — the run-up: August's 60.6% record, overtaken a month later.
Where the numbers differ: the 67% share covers all NEVs, including plug-in hybrids, while the 1.3 million figure counts battery-electric cars only, so the two numbers measure different things.