China’s pure electric vehicle sales reach 1.3 million in September
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In September, Chinese buyers purchased 1.3 million battery electric vehicles, a new record.
The country’s overall new energy vehicle (NEV) sales, including electric and plug-in hybrid cars, reached 1.82 million units, nearly matching a previous high from November 2025. Battery electric vehicles drove this growth, increasing by 21 percent compared to September 2025 and 10 percent compared to August.
While overall NEV sales in China are growing at a slower rate than before, the shift towards battery electric vehicles is accelerating. Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles remained stable, while partially electric vehicles and domestic sales decreased. These trends occurred alongside a surge in vehicle exports. China exported 571,000 plug-in vehicles in September, a 160 percent increase from the same month last year. These exports now account for approximately one-third of all NEV sales within China.
Over the first nine months of the year, China exported four million NEVs, a 130 percent increase year-over-year. Despite a shrinking domestic market, domestic NEV sales fell by 9.4 percent in September compared to last year, total NEV sales increased by 11.1 percent to around 12.5 million units for the year to date.
