For all the headlines about automakers dialing back their plans for electric vehicles, there have been some pockets of surprisingly positive news on EV adoption the past few months. On the passenger vehicle side, it is estimated EVs reached 20 percent of global vehicle sales in the final quarter of 2023. China and Europe are way out ahead, but it was a record quarter in other markets as well.

The electric commercial vehicle market is followed less closely but also saw record sales in the final months of 2023. China has been pushing on this front for several years, and it looks like those efforts are now paying off. More than 5,600 electric or fuel cell medium- and heavy-duty trucks were sold in China in the final month of the 2023. That was a remarkable 10 percent of the total and pulled the tally for all types of commercial EV sales in China to more than 330,000 for the year. Light commercial EVs in China took 16 percent of the market in December.

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