Electric vehicles have reached over 50 percent market share in China, holding at 51 percent year to date as of late 2025. On a monthly basis, sales of electric cars have overtaken conventional car sales in the country since July 2024. Meanwhile, the electric share of new car sales in the US has plateaued at a mere 10 percent since 2023. That's not a temporary gap. That's two automotive markets moving in completely different directions at completely different speeds.
China sold 31.4 million vehicles in 2024, approximately twice the size of US auto sales including exports at 15.9 million. More cars. Cheaper prices. Better technology. And increasingly, higher safety standards than Western manufacturers want to admit.
The Price Gap Nobody Wants to Discuss
The average price of a new electric vehicle in the US is approximately $55,000. By contrast, Chinese companies produce several sub $25,000 EVs, including the XPeng M03, the BYD Dolphin and the MG4. The electric BYD Song Plus battery electric sells for $21,000 in China and has 375 miles of range. The entry level Geely Geome Panda Mini EV costs an astonishing $6,850.
Six thousand dollars. For a car. An electric car. With a warranty. Americans spend more on used pickup trucks with 200,000 miles and questionable service histories. China is the only major market where EVs cost less than comparable ICE cars. Not price parity. Cheaper. That's not a future goal. That's current reality achieved through scale, vertical integration, and brutal domestic competition.
Safety Ratings That Beat European Luxury
The assumption that cheap Chinese cars sacrifice safety dissolved under independent crash testing. In 2023, Euro NCAP crash tested nine Chinese models from four brands. Every Chinese car crash tested by Euro NCAP earned five stars. The Nio ET5 became the safest vehicle tested by the European Association in 2023, surpassing the Volkswagen ID.7.
The NIO EL6 achieved 93 percent adult occupant protection, the highest score for any vehicle tested in 2023, while the BYD Sealion 7 earned 91 percent across identical testing protocols. The BYD Seal and Dolphin EVs, as well as the P7 from XPeng, have been awarded full five star crash safety ratings. These aren't marketing claims. These are independently verified results using identical protocols as Mercedes, BMW, and Volvo.
The Technology Leapfrog
Chinese manufacturers didn't catch up to Western technology. They leapfrogged it entirely. BYD is the world's second largest EV battery seller and has developed a new battery that can recharge in just five minutes, roughly the same time it takes to fill a gas powered car's tank. XPeng implements Level 3 autonomous driving technology, while Xiaomi integrates smartphone derived artificial intelligence into its EVs.
Chinese automakers have earned this position through rapid technological development, aggressive pricing, and a unique ability to bring advanced features to market faster than traditional rivals. While Western manufacturers debate whether to invest in new platforms, Chinese brands iterate monthly, push over the air updates weekly, and launch entirely new models annually.
Global Domination is Already Happening
Chinese companies accounted for 18 percent of EV sales in Europe, 30 percent in Southeast Asia, and over 80 percent in the smaller Latin American market in 2025. 39 countries have reached an EV sales share larger than 10 percent in 2025, a third of which are outside Europe. In 2019, there were only four countries that had reached this milestone, all within Europe.
Vietnam has doubled its EV sales share since 2024 to reach close to 40 percent in 2025, overtaking the UK and the EU for EV sales penetration. Thailand has exceeded 20 percent EV sales share for the first time so far this year, up from 1 percent in 2019. The pattern is consistent: wherever Chinese automakers expand, EV markets grow exponentially faster.
The Range Nobody Expected
Models like the XPeng G6 deliver 700 km range for $38,000, the NIO ET5 Touring offers 750 km range at $42,000, while the Xiaomi SU7 provides 800 km range for $34,000. Compare that to American EVs. A Chevrolet Blazer EV starts at $49,000 with 293 miles of range. A Ford Mustang Mach E costs $42,000 with 250 miles of range. Chinese manufacturers are delivering more range for less money using battery technology Western companies can't match at comparable prices.
US Automakers Falling Behind
Tesla, the largest EV company outside of China, has seen its sales decline in China year to date amid the surge in EV sales in the country. This is not a good sign. Tesla is not as competitive within China, even when producing its EVs locally, as it is outside of China, where the EV competition is less. When Tesla struggles in China despite local production, that says everything about competitive intensity.
General Motors sold 31,612 EVs of all models in the US during the first quarter of 2025, but in China during that period its joint venture sold more than 87,000 Wuling Hongguang Mini EVs. GM sells nearly three times more EVs in China than America, and they're cheap urban runabouts, not premium products. The irony is suffocating.
Tesla, Ford and General Motors all claim they are working on inexpensive EVs. More expensive vehicles, however, generate higher profits, and with the protection of the tariff fortress, their incentive to develop cheaper EVs is not as high as it might be. American manufacturers hide behind tariffs while Chinese brands build factories overseas to circumvent them. One strategy is defensive. The other is offensive. Guess which side is winning.
The Tariff Wall Buys Time, Not Solutions
The average price of a new electric vehicle in the US is approximately $55,000. If sold in America, however, the 100 percent tariffs would remove the price advantage of Chinese EVs. That's the entire American strategy. Price Chinese competitors out through protectionism while domestic manufacturers fail to build compelling affordable options.
High tariffs have thus far prevented Chinese automakers from entering the American market, but they're building production capacity in Mexico, Canada, Hungary, Turkey, and Thailand. To circumvent barriers, Chinese automakers accelerated overseas manufacturing investments, surpassing domestic EV plant announcements for the first time in 2025. Tariffs delay market entry. They don't prevent it.
Why This Happened
China is the only major market where EVs cost less than comparable ICE cars. The reason is simple. By 2030, China will hit about 75 percent EV sales. The country now sells 2/3 of all EVs worldwide. Mainland China dominates in absolute scale, with NEVs reaching 50 percent of new sales in 2025, powered by a localized supply chain, gigascale battery production and aggressive model rollout from BYD and other domestic leaders. This scale advantage has driven cost curve compression, enabling price parity or near parity with ICE vehicles in several segments.
Scale creates cost advantages. Cost advantages enable lower prices. Lower prices drive adoption. Adoption creates more scale. It's a virtuous cycle American manufacturers watched happen while focusing on high margin trucks and SUVs.
Where This Ends
About one quarter of new cars sold around the world so far in 2025 have been electric. That share is forecast to continue rising rapidly in coming years, reaching one half in the early 2030s. There are now more than 50 million EVs on roads around the world, and that number is projected to quadruple by 2030. That's largely thanks to China, which has already deployed 30 million EVs, with that number rising fast.
The rest of the world is lapping the US in the EV race. China leads with 50 percent penetration. Europe follows at 25 percent. Even developing nations in Southeast Asia are surpassing America's stalled 10 percent. The 2025 S&P Global Mobility analysis shows sharp differences across leading markets. Leaders such as Norway, Mainland China now at 50 percent share, and select EU countries at 23 percent in the EU5 benefit from consistent policy support, mature charging infrastructure and competitive pricing. In contrast, the US and many emerging markets face slower uptake due to higher costs, fragmented policies and uneven infrastructure development.
The gap between China's EV market and America's isn't closing. It's accelerating. Chinese brands offer better range, comparable or superior safety, advanced autonomous driving features, and prices that make American EVs look like luxury products for the wealthy. Models ranging from the $6,850 Geely Panda Mini to the $50,000 luxury Exeed Sterra ET cover every market segment with compelling products earning five star safety ratings.
Meanwhile, America plateaus at 10 percent adoption, protects domestic manufacturers with tariffs instead of competition, and watches Tesla struggle in the world's largest EV market despite building cars there. The Chinese automotive revolution isn't coming. It arrived years ago. The rest of the world noticed. America is still deciding whether to care.
