According to data released by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), China’s ownership of new energy vehicles (NEVs) has reached 16.2 million by the end of June 2023, comprising 4.9% of the total 328 million vehicles. This marks an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the end of 2022. Previous data from the beginning of the year indicated that China had 13.1 million NEVs at the close of 2022, accounting for 4.1% of the 319 million total vehicle fleet.
The latest figures reveal that China possesses 12.594 million pure electric vehicles, or battery electric vehicles (BEVs), representing 77.8% of all NEVs. In the first half of the year, a record-breaking 3.128 million NEVs were registered, demonstrating a 41.6% year-on-year increase and accounting for 26.6% of the total 11.75 million new vehicle registrations, as reported by the MPS.
Preliminary data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on July 5 shows that retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China escalated by 36% to reach 3.06 million units between January and June. Additionally, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China during this period amounted to 9.528 million units, a 3% year-on-year increase. This implies that NEVs constituted 32.1% of the total passenger vehicle sales in China for the first half of the year.
In terms of city-wise statistics, a total of 88 cities in China possess more than 1 million vehicles, with 41 cities having over 2 million vehicles, and 24 cities surpassing the 3 million vehicle mark. Beijing and Chengdu both have more than 6 million vehicles, while Chongqing, Shanghai, and Suzhou boast vehicle numbers exceeding 5 million.
However, the MPS does not disclose the distribution of NEVs across different cities. Previously released figures indicate that by the end of 2022, Shanghai possessed 945,000 NEVs, accounting for 19.81% of the total vehicle ownership of 4.77 million in the city. Among these NEVs, pure electric vehicles accounted for 521,000, comprising 55.13% of all NEVs.
According to the Shanghai Economic Information Center, Shanghai registered 117,431 new NEVs from January to May of this year, making up 49.5% of the total vehicle registrations of 237,264 during the same period.
Furthermore, the total number of motor vehicle drivers in China reached 513 million by the end of June, including motorcycle drivers. Of this figure, 475 million were car drivers, constituting 92.7% of the overall driver population. In the first half of the year, China witnessed an 8% year-on-year increase, with 11.91 million individuals obtaining new driving licenses.