Recently, China has been facing energy security and urban air pollution challenges. The development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) is considered an optimal technological route for solving such problems. By the end of 2015, China had become world's largest plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market; however, the core technologies associated with PEVs remain less competitive in the world marketplace. Thus, determining the global trend and national development laws is very important for the Chinese government to draft long-term technological strategies and lead the NEV industry. In this study, the international technological trend is analyzed and industrialization progresses of top global countries are compared. NEV development is reviewed through a detailed classification and a triple-perspective method to determine the industrialization rules. The review indicates the following. (i) China's NEV market penetration, particularly for commercial electric vehicles, is dominated by state policies. The subsidy policy has a significant influence on powertrain options; therefore, the current incentive polices should be optimized. (ii) The range-extended-type plug-in hybrid electric cars have been verified as the optimal roadmap, and plug-in hybrid electric sports utility vehicles hold great promise in the future Chinese market. (iii) Micro-electric cars dominate the electric car market and are expected to be commercialized first when the government subsidy phases out. (iv) The industry has grown rapidly and the charging infrastructure construction can keep up with the progress of PEV market penetration. The post-EV market (such as battery and vehicle recycling) must be considered in advance. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.