Beijing's campaign to boost electric vehicle sales is starting to produce results -- October deliveries of EVs and plug-in hybrids totaled 34,316 vehicles, six times the tally in the same month last year.

 

EVs last month jumped to 26,193, more than 10 times the number a year earlier.

 

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released industry EV sales last week.

 

In October, sales of plug-in hybrids soared 160 percent to 8,123 vehicles.

 

Through the first ten months, EV sales totaled 113,810, nearly five times the tally from the same period last year, the association said. In the same period, plug-in hybrids reached 57,335 vehicles, surging 180 percent year on year.

 

In China, only domestically built EVs, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles are eligible for government subsidies. Conventional hybrids -- such as the Toyota Prius -- do not qualify.

 

While fuel-cell powered vehicles qualify for incentives, automakers do not currently sell any in China.

 

In the past two month, the Chinese government has pushed for the installation of a more extensive network of battery charging facilities by 2020.

 

It has also appealed to domestic automakers to speed up EV development and commercialization.