Plug-in cars take two of every three new vehicle sales in China

Why it matters: China is the world's largest car market, so its shift toward plug-in vehicles reshapes global oil demand and the plans of automakers everywhere. The share has risen fast: plug-ins were about half of new sales at the end of last year. Chinese buyers are moving to electric cars even as overall car sales fall.

Plug-in cars, a category that includes both plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, accounted for two in three new passenger vehicles sold in China in September, according to industry data.

The figures come from the China Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group. Overall Chinese car sales have declined this year, but the fall has been far steeper for conventional vehicles than for electric ones.

Plug-ins were roughly half of new sales at the end of last year, and their share has climbed since the Iran war sent fuel prices soaring. Erica Downs, an energy policy researcher at Columbia University, told Carbon Brief that the conflict is "reinforcing China's electrification of road transport."

The shift has helped China cut oil imports, according to an analysis from the Brookings Institution. Energy think tank Ember estimated that in the first six months of the war, China's EV fleet saved the country about $14 billion on oil imports.

"The countries that invested in electric vehicles before this crisis are now better protected and a growing number are following," said Euan Graham, senior energy analyst at Ember. "Every electric car on the road reduces exposure to volatile oil markets, and as fleets grow so does the protection against future supply shocks."