July 15 was a day worth celebrating for Zhejiang-based electric vehicle manufacturer Leap Motor, as its production line in Jinhua delivered its first T03 model sedan less than three months after the company obtained its manufacturing license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Zhu Jiangming, founder and chairman of Leap Motor, announced on the day that the company will enter into the overseas market in 2022 and deliver eight vehicle models, all of which will be priced below 350,000 yuan ($54,145), by the end of 2025.

"By 2025, our annual sales volume will reach 800,000 vehicles," Zhu added.

On June 15, another Zhejiang-based electric auto brand Zeeker revealed that all its deliverable orders in 2021 had been made by clients and that it had to stop accepting new down payments from then on.

The brand, invested in by China's auto giant Geely, made a splash by debuting its pure electric model Zeeker 001 at the Auto Shanghai show in April.

Recent months have seen a surge in sales among Zhejiang-based new energy vehicle producers. U Pro's plant in Tongxiang sold 5,138 vehicles in June, soaring by 536 percent year-on-year, while Leap Motor's sales in the same month shot up 893 percent year-on-year to 3,941 vehicles.

Huang Yonghe, a senior expert at the China Automotive Technology & Research Center who has come to Zhejiang for assessments three times this year, told news media outlets that he believes Zhejiang's NEV makers will soon thrive despite their current market share being not so big yet.

NEV models are assembled in a Zeeker factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]