China’s electric car boom is increasingly more about hybrids

BEIJING — Hybrid-powered vehicles are proving more popular than battery-only ones in China, even as consumers shift away from gas-only cars, full-year data show.

BYD, by far the market leader, said in a filing Wednesday it sold around 4.3 million passenger cars in 2024. Nearly 2.5 million of those vehicles were hybrid-powered, a reversal from 2023 when BYD sold slightly fewer hybrid cars than battery-only vehicles.

Tesla, which sells battery-only cars, is on track to sell more than 600,000 vehicles in China for a second-straight year, according to CNBC calculations of data from the China Passenger Car Association. Elon Musk’s car company is expected to release 2024 figures in the U.S.’ morning hours on Thursday.

“We still see growth in the Chinese market in terms of battery electric, but we see it sort of capping,” said Joe McCabe, president and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions. He forecasts that by 2031, there will still be demand for internal combustion engine-based vehicles, including from hybrid-powered cars.

Close behind Tesla is Li Auto, with a record 500,508 vehicle deliveries last year, the company said in a filing Wednesday. The majority of the company’s cars come with a fuel tank for extending the battery’s driving range.

Stellantis‘ Chinese partner, Leapmotor, which sells both battery and hybrid-powered cars, said it delivered nearly 300,000 cars in 2024, and aims to deliver 500,000 in the year ahead.

Chinese electric car startups that have so far only sold purely battery-powered vehicles ranked lower in full-year deliveries. Electric carmaker Zeekr sold 222,123 battery-powered vehicles, Nio sold 221,970 and Xpeng sold 190,068.

The final tally for Nio and Xpeng for the year include figures for the companies’ lower-priced brands, which began deliveries in the second half of 2024.

Xpeng in November revealed its own hybrid range-extender system, while Zeekr in August announced plans to launch its first hybrid car in 2025.

The electric car brands faced stiffer competition in the past year with smartphone company Xiaomi launching its SU7 electric sedan in March. By the end of December, Xiaomi claimed it had already delivered more than 135,000 of the cars and has a set a target of delivering 300,000 cars in 2025.

Zeekr has set a goal of 320,000 deliveries for 2025, after slightly missing its reported target of 230,000 cars in 2024.

China’s push to develop its own electric cars hit a tipping point in July, with the share of new energy vehicles sold accounted for more than half all passenger cars sold that month, according to the passenger car association. New energy vehicles include battery-only and hybrid-powered cars.

The trend persisted through November, which saw a penetration rate of 52.3%, according to association data. In July 2023, the penetration rate was 36%.

When looking at the market’s growth, it’s important to remember that China still has many incentives for locals to buy new energy vehicles, said McCabe. He added that the market push is part of China’s efforts to build up domestic players instead of relying on foreign brands.

Cities such as Beijing are making it easier for residents to get license plates for new energy vehicles rather than fuel-powered cars. Part of China’s efforts to boost consumption in recent months has focused on subsidizing new energy vehicle purchases.

Hybrids also drove light-duty vehicle sales in the U.S. in the second quarter, bringing combined penetration of hybrid and battery-electric cars to 18.7%, according to Wards Intelligence data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.