This represents only 2.6 percent of China's total vehicle fleet, implying huge room for growth.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

China's ownership of new energy vehicles (NEVs) reached 7.84 million by the end of 2021, an increase of 2.92 million, or 59.25 percent, from 2020 after excluding the number of scrapped vehicles, according to data released Wednesday by China's Ministry of Public Security.

Among them, the ownership of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) reached 6.4 million, accounting for 81.63 percent of the total number of NEVs.

Nearly 8 million NEVs may seem like a large number, but this represents only 2.6 percent of China's total vehicle fleet, implying huge room for growth.

By the end of 2021, China had 302 million vehicles, and if two-wheeled motor vehicles are counted, that number is 395 million, the data shows.

The number of newly registered NEVs in 2021 was 2.95 million, accounting for 11.25 percent of the total number of newly registered vehicles, an increase of 1.78 million, or 151.61 percent, compared with the previous year.

It is worth noting that in 2017, the number of newly registered NEVs in China was only 650,000.

By the end of last year, 79 cities in China had more than 1 million vehicles, nine more than at the end of 2020. Thirty-five of these cities had more than 2 million vehicles, and 20 cities had more than 3 million.

Beijing, Chengdu and Chongqing have more than 5 million vehicles, Suzhou, Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Xi'an more than 4 million, and 13 cities including Wuhan, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Guangzhou more than 3 million.

China's new energy passenger car sales in 2021 were 3.334 million units, up 167.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released yesterday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Among them, BEV sales were 2.734 million units, up 173.5 percent year-on-year, and plug-in hybrid sales were 600,000 units, up 143.2 percent year-on-year.

NIO's average sales price reaches RMB 443,500 in Dec, higher than BMW and Audi's in China