Plug-in electric vehicles in China
In China, the term new energy vehicle (NEV) is used to designate automobiles that are fully or predominantly powered by electric energy, which include plug-in electric vehicles — battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) — and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). The Chinese Government began implementation of its NEV program in 2009 to foster the development and introduction of new energy vehicles, and electric car buyers are eligible for public subsidies. The stock of new energy vehicles in Mainland China is the largest in the world, with cumulative sales of 5.5 million units through December 2020. These figures include passenger cars and heavy-duty commercial vehicles such buses and sanitation trucks, and only accounts for vehicles manufactured in the country. Of these, there were 4.9 million new energy vehicles in use at the end of 2020, accounting for 1.75% of all vehicles in circulation in China. Sales of new energy vehicles since 2011 passed the 500,000 unit milestone in March 2016, and the 1 million mark in early 2017, both, excluding imports. Cumulative sales of new energy passenger cars achieved the 500,000 unit milestone in September 2016, and 1 million by the end of 2017. Domestically produced passenger cars account for 96% of new energy car sales in China. , China had the largest stock of highway legal plug-in passenger cars with over 4.5 million units, 42% of the global plug-in car fleet in use. China also dominates the plug-in light commercial vehicle and electric bus deployment, with its stock reaching over 500,000 buses in 2019, 98% of the global stock, and 247,500 electric light commercial vehicles, 65% of the global fleet. In addition, the country also leads sales of medium- and heavy duty electric trucks, with over 12,000 trucks sold, and nearly all battery electric. China has been the world's best-selling plug-in electric passenger car market for five years running, from 2015 to 2019, with annual sales rising from more than 207,000 plug-in passenger cars in 2015, to 579,000 in 2017, and just over million units both in 2018 and 2019. A particular feature of the Chinese passenger plug-in market is the dominance of small entry level vehicles, in 2015 representing 87% of total pure electric car sales, while 96% of total plug-in hybrid car sales were in the compact segment. BYD Auto ended 2015 as the world's best selling manufacturer of highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, and for a second year running was the world's top selling plug-in car manufacturer with over 100,000 units delivered in 2016. During 2016 BYD became the world's all-time second largest plug-in electric passenger car manufacturer after the Renault-Nissan Alliance. The BYD Qin was the top selling new energy passenger car for two years in a row, 2014 and 2015. The BYD Tang was the best selling plug-in passenger car in 2016. Until December 2016, the Qin ranked as the all-time top selling plug-in electric car in the country with 68,655 units sold since its inception. The BAIC EC-Series