•The level of new energy development gradually improves.•Regional new energy development will converge to a stable level in China.•The early stage of new energy development is driven by technology.•The later stage of new energy development is driven by economic growth. New energy is an emerging energy source for alleviating the energy crisis and environmental deterioration. In the case of China's 30 provinces, this study explores the trend in the dynamic evolution and driving factors of new energy development. The following conclusions are obtained: (1) the status of new energy development in China is “strong in the north and weak in the south and strong in the east and weak in the west”. (2) Through dynamic convergence analysis, an absolute convergence in China's new energy development occurs, with the absolute convergence rate continuously increasing. Furthermore, China's new energy development is experiencing a conditional convergence process. (3) According to the generalized Divisia index method, technology primarily drives the early stage of new energy development, whereas economic development drives the later stage. (4) The heterogeneity analysis indicates that the share of new energy technology inputs in regions with lagging levels of new energy development is much lower than that in regions with advanced levels of new energy development, indicating that the lagging regions learn new energy technologies from developed regions.