China wants its electric cars to become slimmer and more efficient after years in which bigger batteries, longer range claims, and SUV-style comfort features have made passenger cars larger and heavier.

According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, the average passenger car in China weighed 1,704 kg in 2024, roughly one-third more than in 2012. Some popular electric SUVs are now close to, or even above, two meters wide, putting pressure on parking and urban space.

No longer only rhetorical

The policy response is no longer only rhetorical. Since 1 January 2026, China has applied a mandatory national standard for the energy consumption of pure electric passenger cars.

The standard, GB 36980.1-2025, sets consumption limits based on vehicle weight. According to SESEC, the EU-China standardization project, the new limits are around 11% stricter than the previous recommended standard. A vehicle weighing around two tonnes may consume no more than 15.1 kWh per 100 km under the Chinese test procedure.

The rule does not ban large electric cars, but it changes the incentive structure. Manufacturers that want to sell new models in China will have to compensate for weight and size with better aerodynamics, more efficient motors, smarter thermal management, and lower rolling resistance.

Otherwise, oversized models with very large batteries risk becoming harder to approve. The signal is clear: the next phase of EV competition in China will not be based only on range and lounge-like interiors, but also on efficiency per kWh.

That matters far beyond China

The country is not just the world’s largest EV market, it is also the dominant production base. The International Energy Agency says China accounted for nearly three-quarters of global electric car production in 2025 and exported more than 2.5 million electric cars.

Reuters reported this week that Chinese carmakers are expanding their European footprint through sales growth, partnerships, and planned local production, including BYD and Geely, as well as Chery, SAIC, Xpeng, and Leapmotor.

For European carmakers, China’s efficiency push could become another competitive challenge. A lighter EV needs a smaller battery to deliver the same usable range.

That means lower material costs, fewer critical raw materials per car, lower electricity use, and potentially a lower sticker price. In a European market where many households still find EVs too expensive, that could be decisive.

If Chinese brands can combine price, technology, and efficiency, European manufacturers risk being squeezed on cost and engineering benchmarks.

Europe’s own oversize problem

Europe has its own car-bloat problem. Transport & Environment found that new cars in Europe have been getting about one centimeter wider every two years, with the average width rising to 180.3 cm in the first half of 2023.

Among the 100 best-selling models in 2023, more than half were already too wide for a 180 cm on-street parking space used in many cities. Paris has already moved towards higher parking charges for heavy SUVs, and other cities are considering similar policies as larger vehicles take more space from pedestrians, cyclists, and smaller cars.

The climate argument is also more subtle than simply electric versus combustion. Battery-electric cars remain far cleaner over their life cycles than petrol- or diesel-powered cars in Europe.

But not all EVs use resources equally well. Very heavy EVs require larger batteries, more raw materials, and more electricity. They can also increase tire wear and put extra strain on roads and parking infrastructure.

China’s move points to a question Europe has not yet fully answered: should zero-emission cars also be steered towards lower energy consumption, lower weight, and better use of public space?

The EU currently relies mainly on CO2 fleet targets to push the transition to zero-emission vehicles. It has no equivalent of China’s direct mandatory energy-consumption limit for EVs. That may create a policy gap. If Europe wants affordable electric mobility, resilient supply chains, and liveable cities, efficiency cannot be left to market forces alone.