China's new energy passenger vehicle penetration rate, or the share of such vehicles in all new vehicle sales, surpassed 15 percent in June, a record high, according to calculations by China Industrial Securities based on data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

That's up 3 percentage points from May and up 7 percentage points from 8 percent in January. The ratio was 11 percent in the first half of this year, an increase of 5 percentage points from 2020, the data showed.

"Demand for new energy vehicles continues to be released, driving a rapid increase in penetration," China Industrial Securities said.

2021 is a year of explosive global new energy vehicle market demand, with a concentration of premium models coming to market, driving private consumption to continue to move higher, the team said.

Based on current annual production scheduling plans of China's mainstream automakers and reasonable inventory levels, the team expects Chinese new energy passenger vehicle sales to be 2.4 million units in 2021.

Demand remains strong in the second half of the year as sales of Tesla China, SAIC-GM-Wuling, BYD, Volkswagen, and new car makers continue to expand, along with a concentration of new model launches, according to the team.

William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, had previously predicted that the increase in the share of electric vehicles in China's new car sales from 10 percent to 20 percent would certainly be achieved within two years.

China's new energy vehicle penetration rate exceeded 10 percent for the first time in March. But even so, 98 percent of car owners from ownership still own fuel cars, Li said at the Shanghai Auto Show in April.

While the shift from fuel to electric is difficult, once consumers accept the shift, they basically won't go back to fuel cars, Li said.

China now has about 1.95 million charging piles, up 47% from a year ago