BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles (EV) at the end of last year, crowning an extraordinary rise for the Chinese carmaker.

It delivered more fully electric cars than Tesla for the first time in the three-month period to December 31, and slashed the sales lead held by Elon Musk’s company over the year as a whole.

So how did a little-known Chinese battery maker grow so quickly to become Tesla’s biggest rival?

  • partial_accumen
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    211 months ago

    It’s more that part of the reason that BYD is successful is that their cars are much more “basic” than US counterparts, where what used to be “luxuries” in the 1980s and 90s are now included in every new US vehicle. You can’t find a US vehicle with no power locks, no power windows, no computer dashboard, just buttons and knobs and an FM radio.

    It sounds like you’re talking about BYD from about 10 years ago. Modern BYD cars rival western, Japanese and Korean brands sold in the USA today:

    Here’s the BYD Seal which is the chief competitor to the Tesla Model 3 as an example: