BYD’s second-generation Dual-Mode, plug-in hybrid electric sedan Qin has posted a second month of strong sales in February. Trends in March now make it “China’s Best-Selling Electric Vehicle” according to China’s National Passenger Car Association.

In the first weeks of 2014, more than 6,000 Qin vehicles were sold, accounting for more than one-half of the Chinese new-energy vehicle market.

Analysts are not expecting sales to slow, as both Shanghai and Beijing announced earlier this month that they will now permit BYD new energy vehicles to qualify for local municipality green-vehicle incentives and be licensed in those regions.

The Qin combines a 1.5-liter, turbocharged, direct-injection 4-cylinder, 113 kW (152 hp), 240 N·m (177 lb-ft) engine with a 110 kW (148 hp), 250 N·m (184 lb-ft) electric motor; combined system power is 217 kW (291 hp) maximum with 479 N·m (353 lb-ft) maximum torque. The system uses a 6-speed DCT transmission. A 13 kWh Li-ion battery pack provides energy storage.

Compared to the first generation of the dual-mode PHEV drive system (DM I), DM II features a larger displacement engine (1.5L turbo, direct-injected up from a 1.0L naturally aspirated engine), with power increasing to 113 kW up from 50 kW (67 hp).

The voltage of the electric motor has increased from 330V to 500V, and power output from the motor has increased from 75 kW to 110 kW. Maximum rotation speed of the motor has also increased from 6,000 rpm in DM I to 10,000 rpm in DM II. The overall drive efficiency of DM II has increased by 7%, according to BYD.

Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 5.9 seconds. BYD says that fuel consumption is 1.6 l/100 km (147 mpg US), with an all-electric range of 70 km (43 miles).

The Qin is only the first of multiple of BYD electric vehicles launching as the electric version of the S7-styled SUV—internally named the Tang—is set to be released later this year. The Qin is currently available to domestic Chinese and Latin American markets and senior officials at BYD have discussed expanding exported versions of these new energy vehicles in the coming years.