The advance of electric cars continues unabated, and a significant milestone in their evolution has already been announced. According to the Chinese state-owned oil company Sinopec, China’s demand for gasoline will peak this year—two years earlier than expected. Starting next year, according to the announcement, demand for gasoline in the Asian giant will begin to decline. This is not just any projection, as Bloomberg points out. Sinopec is China’s largest fuel distributor and, as such, has deep insight into the market.

The announcement is significant because, given its size, the Chinese market is one of the biggest drivers of demand for refined fuels.

The reason for the expected decline in gasoline demand in China is the boom in electric vehicle sales in that country. Estimates from the China Passenger Car Association indicate that 38% of vehicle sales in August were electric vehicles, compared to 6% at the end of 2020. Another contributing factor is that the latest internal combustion engines are more efficient.

According to BloombergNEF, demand for gasoline for two- and three-wheeled vehicles has already begun to decline: 70% of the kilometers traveled by these types of vehicles are accounted for by electric models. Now it’s the turn of passenger vehicles: the share of electric passenger vehicles has already surpassed 5%, a milestone beyond which the gradual but widespread adoption of new technologies typically begins, according to marketing experts.

An interesting fact: Sinopec highlights the impact of the growth in ride-hailing services like Uber and Didi. Forty percent of the vehicles used by these apps—and 50% of the kilometers traveled—are electric. In addition to lower operating costs, public policies are driving the adoption of electric vehicles by these apps: in 22 Chinese cities, new vehicles for these services are required to be electric or hybrid.