The Unstoppable Rise of Leapmotor — August’s China EV Sales Report (45% BEV Share)

This is car market news out of China, not a home energy story, but it points to where electric vehicle technology and pricing are heading. In August, 65% of all new cars sold in China ran on a plug, a record. That was driven less by EV growth than by a steep 24% drop in gasoline car sales, while battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) kept climbing. For the year so far, 57% of Chinese car sales have been electric.

The bigger story for anyone watching EV prices is how cheap these cars have gotten. Geely's top-selling small hatchback starts around $10,000, and BYD's midsize electric SUV starts near $22,000, both far below equivalent Tesla prices in China. Startup automaker Leapmotor had a standout month, with sales up 66% year over year, built on a lineup of affordable small EVs. Chinese brands are also exporting far more electrified vehicles abroad, with exports up 78% and more than half of them electric.

None of this changes what's available at a US dealership today, since Chinese brands like BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor don't sell here. But it shows a global trend: battery-electric vehicles are getting cheaper to build and more dominant in the world's largest car market, which typically puts downward pressure on EV prices and battery costs over time everywhere, including for the used and new EVs eventually sold in the US.