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Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales in China began to grow rapidly after 2013, increasing from 0.1% to 2.3% of all new vehicle sales by 2017, mainly due to government monetary incentives and increased availability of PEV models. The growth of PEV sales in the U.S. has been more gradual, reaching 1.1% of light vehicle sales in 2017. Total PEV sales in China were about 550,000 vehicles in 2017, while U.S. PEV sales were just under 200,000. The share of all-electric vehicles (BEV) to plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) sold in China were much different than in the United States. In China, 81% of PEV sales were BEV in 2017, while in the U.S., BEV accounted for just over half (53%).

China plug-in electric vehicle sales and plug-in electric vehicle market share from 2010 to 2017.
U.S. plug-in electric vehicle sales and plug-in electric vehicle market share from 2010 to 2017

Sources: China - Data summarized by Argonne National Laboratory from Hewu WANG, Xu HAO. Data Base of Electric Vehicle Production in China, State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University.

United States - Argonne National Laboratory, Light-Duty Electric Drive Vehicles Monthly Sales Update Program, March 20, 2018.

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