China’s EV champion BYD has overtaken Tesla and plans to conquer the world

Having overhauled Elon Musk’s Tesla as the biggest-selling maker of EVs, China’s BYD has revealed new charging technology that is capable of providing more than 400km of range in five minutes.

BYD is edging closer to a breakthrough with the European Commission on winding back 35 per cent tariffs. Picture: AP

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Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is adamant Donald Trump’s trade war will have little impact on its ambition to outmuscle Tesla as the world’s biggest EV brand.

BYD said at the Shanghai Auto Show that it plans to export 800,000 of the 5.5 million cars it expects to make this year as it edges towards a breakthrough with the European Union on winding back 35 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports. It will flood the European and South American markets with hundreds of thousands of cars, hoping to put more distance between it and Elon Musk’s carmaker, whose fortunes are suffering, earnings released this week showed.

The Shenzhen-headquartered company overtook Tesla as the world’s top-selling EV maker this year, accounting for 16 per cent of the global electric vehicle market, according to Counterpoint. This compares with Tesla’s 14 per cent.

In Australia, BYD has become one of the fastest-growing marques, with sales soaring more than 38 per cent to 3956 cars in January and February, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

BYD is the first brand to sell an EV for less than $30,000 with its stripped-back Dolphin model, and Citi analysts are bullish on its growth ambitions.

In Shanghai, it revealed new charging technology that is capable of providing more than 400km of range in five minutes, bridging the gap between the time it takes to fill an internal combustion engine-powered car at the pump.

But new research from Citi analyst Jeff Chung finds plug-in hybrids will be a key contributor to BYD’s sales targets, accounting for 50 per cent of exports. This is a step up on 30 to 40 per cent last financial year, and reflects evolving consumer tastes for battery and petrol-powered cars.

“Management is confident to achieve 800,000 export target in 25E and expects limited impacts from US tariffs on order prospects from high-growth regions like South America,” Mr Chung wrote in a note to investors.

In the three months to December 31, BYD exported almost 120,000 cars, capping off a year in which its sales soared 13 per cent, and comparing favourably against Tesla’s 2 per cent growth.

Mr Chung said BYD plans to price its vehicles “at least 1.5 times” higher than its domestic Chinese cars.

BYD’s Han L EV model at the Shanghai Auto Show. Picture: AP

Brussels slapped additional tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Chinese EVs last year after an investigation found evidence of unfair subsidies in the Asian powerhouse’s supply chain.

But this month, the European Commission said it is talking to Beijing about an alternative to the import taxes, including manufacturers agreeing to minimum pricing.

“While the final deal terms are still pending, management believes setting a minimum price for NEV (new energy vehicle) exports to the EU is generally a good thing for BYD as the overseas pricing is at least 1.5 times domestic price level,” Mr Chung said.

“After meeting with management, we expect various forms of replacement subsidies may influence pricing, and the company may take a wait-and-see approach with flexible adjustment in pricing strategy.”

In Shanghai, BYD said it was overhauling its European operations after previous missteps, including not signing up enough dealers. Chairman Wang Chuanfu confirmed plug-in hybrids will form a key part of this play, saying it was difficult to sell pure EVs in many European countries.

This is a similar approach to Toyota, which has previously said hybrid petrol cars, rather than battery-only powered vehicles, were key to slashing emissions.

Tesla no longer supplies local sales data to the FCAI, but in a separate report from the Electric Vehicle Council which is sent to dealers and has been seen by The Australian, Tesla sold 6772 cars in Australia in January and February.

This is before Tesla chief executive Mr Musk’s political antics, including his new role as head of Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Elon Musk is scaling back his DOGE commitments to focus more on Tesla. Picture: Robin Legrand/AFP

Mr Musk said this week he will scale back on his DOGE responsibilities to focus on Tesla, including delivering its first autonomous cars in June.

He led a 90-minute earnings call on Wednesday, after a horrible start to the new year for Tesla during which profits cratered almost 40 per cent and the carmaker dropped its forecast for a full-year rebound. Earnings of $US934m ($1.46bn) were the lowest since the end of 2020. Tesla’s shares have been under pressure for much of this year, falling almost 40 per cent.

The slump in Tesla is despite Chinese EVs already being subject to 100 per cent tariffs in the US – levied by the Biden administration – before Mr Trump imposed additional import taxes on most Chinese goods, including cars, of 145 per cent.

Originally published as China’s EV champion BYD has overtaken Tesla and plans to conquer the world