• Wayne Dopson runs a renovation business in Brisbane, Australia, and bought a BYD Shark hybrid pickup in March.
• He said it's great to drive compared with his old gas truck, but fears it may be obsolete in a few years.
• Chinese EV makers are expanding rapidly in tariff-free Australia, putting Tesla under pressure.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Wayne Dopson, a project manager in Brisbane, Australia about owning a BYD Shark hybrid pickup truck. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've always been in the property market, flipping houses and doing renovations. I have a small renovation business, working on kitchens, bathrooms, and decks for clients in Brisbane, which I've been doing for about 12 years now.

I bought a VW Amarok diesel-powered pickup in 2015. I wanted to upgrade for a while, but nothing came along that took my interest.

Other combustion-engine trucks like the Ford Ranger were all very similar to the Amarok. I would have been getting pretty much the same car with just a bigger screen, so I waited for something a little bit different.

I bought the BYD Shark hybrid pickup in March for 64,000 Australian dollars, around $41,000.

Ford and Toyota are charging ridiculous prices for their pickup trucks, or utes in Australia. You're looking at up to 80,000 dollars for something that is, to me, inferior to what BYD is charging 60,000 for.

I've only done 2,000 kilometers in the Shark so I'm still learning the car, but so far I love driving it.

The technology, the power, and the smoothness — it feels decades ahead of the Amarok.

Luxury and power on the cheap

The level of luxury inside is incredible for the money. I've owned Audis and BMWs and it feels just as good, just as solid and well-built as a premium car. It also does 0 to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds, so it drives like a sports car.

I use it mainly for work as well as leisure, and there are a couple of advantages to using it for work.

It costs me just cents to run it each day. I've got 30 solar panels on my roof, so my electricity during the day is free.

I pay eight cents per kilowatt hour from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., which is enough time to charge the car — it takes between three to four hours to charge.

If I set the car to charge at midnight, it's done by about 4 a.m., and it generally costs less than two Australian dollars, or $1.03. I'd be using 13 or 14 dollars ($8-9) worth of diesel a day in the VW Amarok, so comparatively it's very cheap to run.

The other advantage is you've got power outlets in the back of the truck that provide about six kilowatts of power, which you can use on-site to power tools.

It's got a really big tray with a couple of little tricks up its sleeve. You can open your tailgate with a quick press of the key, which is handy if you're walking up with your hands full.

Range is not a problem

The Shark is what they call an EREV, or extended range electric vehicle. It's got two electric motors, at the front and rear, and it also has a 1.5-liter petrol turbo engine that acts as a generator.

The petrol engine means range anxiety isn't really a thing for me.

Generally, I do less than 100 kilometers a day, which will be done in electric mode, but if I do want to go to the beach or further down the coast, I've got the petrol engine right there.

That just kicks in and charges the battery and I'm good to go for around 800 kilometers.

The only thing that would worry me down the line is the resale value. I've already seen that new vehicles are coming out from Nissan, Ford, and Great Wall.

The technology is advancing like crazy at the moment, so my Shark could be fairly obsolete in five years.

It's got a six-year warranty, and I'm planning to keep it for the warranty period. What's it going to be worth at the end is anyone's guess.

BYD puts down roots in Australia

I think having more Chinese EV brands in Australia is great. We're getting longer warranty periods and better quality cars.

Utes are a very important part of Australian culture. One of the issues the BYD Shark will face is that it doesn't have the same off-roading credentials as a vehicle with a diff lock — an axle mechanism that you need to crawl over rocks and rough terrain.

It's fine on the sand and in the mud, but when it comes to really serious off-roading, where you are crawling up huge hills with ruts and boulders, it's going to struggle.

For me, though, the Shark is great. It's a pleasure to drive, and it's nice being able to drive around knowing it's not costing me and not costing the planet either.

• Satellite imagery shows how BYD's massive new car plant in Hungary is taking shape.
• After crushing Tesla in China, the EV giant aims to take advantage of Elon Musk's woes in Europe.
• The $4.5 billion factory is expected to produce around 200,000 vehicles a year from late 2025.

BYD is building a massive factory in Hungary as it looks to overtake Elon Musk's Tesla in Europe.

The 300-hectare site on the outskirts of Szeged, Hungary, is expected to have a maximum capacity of around 200,000 vehicles a year, and satellite images provided to BI by Planet Images show how the factory is rapidly taking shape.

Construction of the site began last year, with a Hungarian official confirming last November that the first BYD EV is expected to roll off the line in the second half of 2025.

The estimated €4 billion ($4.5 billion) investment is the latest step in BYD's quest for European domination.

Having conquered China's brutally competitive electric vehicle market, the Chinese EV giant is eyeing overseas expansion, exporting a record number of electric vehicles and hybrids in the first quarter of 2025.

BYD is barred from the US market thanks to high tariffs and faces a 17% import tax in Europe, leading the company to invest in local factories such as the one in Hungary.

The Chinese automaker is also set to break ground on a factory in Turkey in the coming years, and executives at the Warren Buffett-backed automaker have said that plans for a third European factory are under consideration.

That poses a huge threat to Tesla, which has a gigafactory in Germany and counts Europe as its third-biggest market.

Elon Musk's carmaker sold 327,000 vehicles in Europe last year but has seen sales collapse in 2025 amid intense backlash over Musk's interventions in European politics and support for the German far-right AfD party.

Tesla's sales in Europe have fallen 37% in the first three months of the year, while BYD's have surged by nearly 300%.

Hungary has proven to be a welcoming environment for Chinese companies looking to put down roots in Europe.

Battery giant CATL, which is the world's largest manufacturer of EV batteries, is also building a $7.6 billion factory in the country as it seeks to tighten its grip on the continent's battery industry.

The presence of Chinese companies has sparked tensions with the European Union, which counts Hungary as a member.

Last month, The Financial Times reported that the EU was investigating whether BYD's Hungarian plant had received unfair subsidies from the Chinese government.

• Chinese auto giant BYD reported first-quarter earnings on Friday.
• The carmaker, one of Tesla's biggest rivals, saw its net profits double compared to last year.
• BYD's sales and profits have surged while Tesla fights falling sales and anger at CEO Elon Musk.

Tesla's biggest Chinese competitor reported bumper first-quarter earnings on Friday.

BYD said its net profit increased 100% since last year to 9.15 billion yuan, roughly $1.3 billion.

It means China's best-selling carmaker has overtaken Tesla on another key metric. Elon Musk's firm reported net income of $409 million for the same period, a drop of more than 70% compared to the same period in 2024.

Alongside surging profits, BYD said operating revenues increased 37% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 170.4 billion yuan, roughly $23.3 billion.

BYD's earnings per share also surged in the first quarter, up 99% to 3.12 yuan per share, around $0.43.

Last year, BYD overtook Tesla on overall annual revenue, reporting $107 billion in revenue, compared to Tesla's $98 billion.

BYD has been aggressively expanding outside China in recent years.

At the same time, Tesla has started 2025 battling falling sales and mass protests against CEO Musk over his close involvement with the Trump administration.

Last month, BYD unveiled a new system that it says can give 250 miles of charge in just five minutes.

The 1,000 kW chargers are four times as powerful as Tesla's current chargers, which it says can add 200 miles of range in 15 minutes. Tesla plans to roll out 500 kW chargers later this year.

BYD's technology is available in its Han L sedan and Tang L SUV, with the prices for the former as low as $30,000.

The Chinese company's cars remain unavailable in the US, but BYD has still been pulling ahead of Tesla for sales.

BYD sales jumped 60% in the first three months of 2025, while Tesla deliveries came in well below analyst expectations.

• Tesla's sales are collapsing in Europe amid an Elon Musk-inspired brand crisis.
• It also faces growing competition from Chinese EV firms like BYD, which has seen sales surge.
• Here are six Chinese electric cars that are giving Tesla a headache in its third-biggest market.

Tesla has had a nightmare start to the year, and nowhere more so than in Europe.

The automaker's sales across the continent have dropped by 37% in the first three months of the year, according to figures from market researcher DataForce, as it battles a global brand crisis tied to CEO Elon Musk's involvement with the Trump administration.

Once all but the only EV player in town, Tesla now faces a wide array of competitors in Europe, adding to the company's woes.

Some of those new rivals are from China. Not content with crushing Tesla in their home market, Chinese firms like BYD are expanding rapidly overseas, particularly in Europe.

Although Tesla still dominates the EV market in Europe, and Chinese automakers have only a small presence, sales data suggests they are catching up.

BYD saw its sales balloon from around 7,000 in the first three months of last year to 27,000 over the same period in 2025, an increase of nearly 300%, per DataForce's figures.

As Tesla fights to hold on, here are some of the Chinese EVs that should trouble Elon Musk in Tesla's third-largest market.

BYD Seal U

BYD has launched a flood of models in Europe over the past year, but the Seal U is the one that should be making Tesla nervous.

The Chinese automaker has sold around 12,400 of the hybrid SUVs this year, with over half of those sales coming in the past month.

Like many of its Chinese rivals, BYD has placed a renewed focus on hybrids, which Tesla does not sell, in Europe, as they are exempt from the tariffs on imported Chinese electric cars introduced by the European Union last year.

BYD Dolphin

Another entry in BYD's line of aquatic-themed EVs, the all-electric Dolphin made its European debut in 2023.

The electric hatchback has sold around 4,500 units so far in 2025, a 175% increase from the same period last year.

The $35,000 EV will soon be joined by the Dolphin Surf, the European brand name for BYD's Seagull hatchback, which sells for as little as $7,800 in China and is set to go on sale this year.

MG ZS

Historic British car brand MG was acquired by Chinese giant SAIC Motors in 2007, and its lineup of affordable EVs and hybrids is currently going toe-to-toe with the US automaker in Europe.

MG has sold 36,400 of its MG ZS hybrid so far in 2025, a 44% increase from the same period last year.

That surge saw the $30,000 compact SUV outsell Tesla's Model Y, which competes in the same segment, in the first three months of the year.

MG3

MG sales have also been boosted by its $25,000 MG3 hybrid, which launched in Europe last year and has sold 15,200 units so far in 2025.

The carmaker's sales surge has turned SAIC Motors into one of the biggest threats facing Tesla in Europe.

The state-owned Chinese brand's sales overtook Tesla's in the first two months of 2025, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Leapmotor T03

Jeep and Chrysler owner Stellantis has partnered with Chinese EV maker Leapmotor to sell its cars in Europe, and the T03 EV was one of the brand's first cars to come to the continent when it launched late last year.

The $21,000 "city car" is just 3.6 metres long and has a range of up to 263 miles. Leapmotor and Stellantis have sold 2,500 of them this year in Europe.

Polestar 4

Swedish brand Polestar, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely, has been aggressive in its attempts to snatch market share from Tesla.

CEO Michael Lohscheller told Bloomberg he had told his salespeople to target Tesla owners, describing the backlash against Musk as an opportunity for the EV brand.

Sales data from Europe suggests it might be paying off, with Polestar seeing its sales double to over 9,000 in the first three months of the year.

The surge was driven by the Polestar 4, which launched in Europe last year. The luxury electric coupe, which is manufactured in China, has sold 4,700 units so far in 2025.

• The race to build EVs that can charge as quickly as it takes to refuel a gas vehicle is heating up.
• Chinese firm CATL showed off a new battery on Monday, which it said can add over 500km of range.
• Rival BYD has also unveiled 5-minute charging as Chinese companies and Tesla battle for EV dominance.

The EV charging wars are heating up — with battery giant CATL unveiling a new battery it says can out-charge BYD and Tesla.

CATL launched an updated version of its Shenxing battery on Monday, which it said allows electric vehicles to add 520 km (323 miles) of range in just five minutes of charging.

The latest news sees CATL potentially snatch the lead in the global race to build EV batteries that can charge in the same amount of time it takes to fill a car up with gas.

Automakers around the world are banking on ultra-fast charging to convince people to buy electric, with lengthy charging times and range anxiety still cited as some of the main reasons people are reluctant to switch.

Chinese EV giant BYD announced its own superfast charging system last month, which is capable of adding 400km (250 miles) of range in five minutes, while Tesla's most advanced chargers can provide around 320 km (200 miles) of range in 15 minutes.

China has quickly built up a technological advantage. In the past year, BYD, CATL, and Tesla rival Zeekr have all demonstrated batteries that can charge in under 15 minutes.

And CATL upped the ante by showing off a host of cutting-edge batteries at its 'Tech Day' event on Monday.

The company said the second-generation Shenxing battery was capable of ultra-fast charging in freezing temperatures, something EVs usually struggle with.

In a cold-weather demo, CATL showed a Shenxing-equipped electric car charging from 5% to 80% in 15 minutes at temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).

CATL also teased a sodium-ion battery cell called Naxtra, which it said was more stable than traditional lithium-based batteries, and a series of dual-power batteries it said could equip EVs with up to 1,000km of range.

The Ningde-based company is the world's largest battery manufacturer and is preparing for a multibillion-dollar public listing in Hong Kong. CATL's shares were up over 2% on Monday.

• Trump and China are locked in a trade war, and for some products, the situation is getting out of hand.
• Thanks to the US and China's tariff tit-for-tat, EVs from China now face a 247.5% tariff rate.
• So don't expect to see cars from Tesla rivals BYD or Xiaomi on the road anytime soon.

It was already nearly impossible to buy a BYD in the US, but now things are getting somewhat out of hand.

After a rapid escalation in the trade war between the US and China over the past few days, anyone trying to import a Chinese electric car to the US faces a tariff rate of 247.5% — so don't expect to see any cars from Tesla rivals BYD or Xiaomi on the road anytime soon.

A spokesperson for the US International Trade Commission confirmed the total tax rate to Business Insider on Thursday.

That includes the 145% tariffs on Chinese goods announced by Donald Trump in recent days and the 100% levy on Chinese electric cars implemented by Joe Biden last year, plus a 2.5% duty rate on all EVs bought into the US for good measure.

The enormous number is a sign of how the trade war between the world's two largest economies has escalated to almost ludicrous levels.

China retaliated against the latest US tariffs on Friday with its own 125% tariff on US goods. China's tariffs are already hitting Tesla, which has stopped taking orders in the country for the Model X and S, both of which are imported from the US.

It also shows how far successive US administrations have gone to prevent a wave of affordable, high-tech Chinese electric vehicles from reaching American shores.

The new tariff rate implies that anyone in the US who attempts to buy and import BYD's cheapest EV — the $7,800 Seagull — will have to pay an extra $19,300.

Even if they can afford that, thanks to a host of additional regulations and restrictions, it is unlikely anyone would be able to legally drive one on US roads even if they could afford the shipping fees.

Chinese EVs pose an existential threat

Having once dismissed Chinese carmakers, the US auto industry has now decided BYD and its fellow upstarts represent an existential threat.

Elon Musk warned last year that China's EV companies would "demolish" their Western rivals without trade barriers. At the same time, Ford CEO Jim Farley was so impressed by Xiaomi's SU7 electric sedan that he flew one from Shanghai to Chicago.

The 250% trade barrier protects Tesla, Ford, and other automakers from having to compete with BYD and Xiaomi in the US, but it does little to protect them elsewhere.

Not content with crushing Western automakers at home, China's EV makers are now expanding rapidly in developing markets like Brazil and Southeast Asia.

They are also building factories and entering new markets in Europe, which is reportedly considering removing its own tariffs on Chinese electric cars after getting dragged into Trump's trade war.

Americans, who in surveys have consistently cited a lack of affordability and choice as major barriers to buying an EV, are starting to take notice.

YouTuber iShowSpeed, real name Darren Watkins Jr., showed off some of BYD's most eye-catching cars to his 38.6 million subscribers during a recent visit to China.

In a livestream with around 8 million views on YouTube, the streamer drove BYD's Yangwang U8 SUV, which can float on water for up to 30 minutes, and the U9, a $233,000 electric supercar with remote-controlled suspension that allows it to "dance" and jump over obstacles.

When he attempted to buy the U9 to take back to the US, however, the influencer was told it wasn't possible.

For many US drivers who want to see the Seagull or SU7 in action, high tariffs mean YouTube is their only option. Or they can just cross the border to Mexico, where Chinese EVs are rapidly becoming a common sight on local roads.

• India won't let China's electric vehicle giant BYD expand in the country, its commerce minister said.
• BYD has to convince India it will "play by the rules of the game," Piyush Goyal told a conference.
• BYD rival Tesla is looking to expand in India, which is the world's third biggest car market.

India has blocked Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD from expanding in its auto market, just as Elon Musk's Tesla looks to build its presence there.

"India has to be cautious about its strategic interests, who we allow to invest," Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Bloomberg at the India Global Forum on Monday.

Asked about BYD's prospects, he said: "As of now, it's a no."

Goyal accused BYD of engaging in "unfair practices" and said India's government must be "convinced" that the Chinese EV maker would "work by the rules of the game."

India had previously rejected BYD's $1 billion joint venture proposal with a local firm last year, citing national security concerns about Chinese investments.

Tensions between Beijing and Delhi have long been high, with the two growing superpowers often butting heads.

BYD has maintained a limited presence in India. The company sold 3,500 cars in India in 2024, BYD India executive Rajeev Chauhan told Business Standard — less than 0.1% of its 4.27 million global sales last year.

Meanwhile, Tesla has ramped up efforts to break into India, the world's third-largest car market. In February, the company listed 13 job openings based in Mumbai, just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Musk.

However, Tesla's India ambitions drew criticism from President Donald Trump, who said that opening a Tesla plant there would be "unfair" due to the country's steep import tariffs — up to 100% on EVs.

"Every country in the world takes advantage of us, and they do it with tariffs," he told Fox News in February adding, "It is impossible to sell a car, practically, in, as an example, India."

"Now, if he built the factory in India, that's OK, but that's unfair to us," Trump said of Musk. "It's very unfair."

Last week, Trump imposed 26% tariffs on goods from India as part of his sweeping tariff program.

Musk was also expected to announce a major investment during a trip to India in April 2024 but postponed it after Tesla announced plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce.

Entering the Indian market could give Tesla a much-needed boost. The company has faced sluggish sales in Europe and the US this year, growing competition from BYD, and backlash driven by Musk's work in the Department of Government Efficiency. As of Tuesday's close, Tesla stock was down 41% this year, while BYD shares are up nearly 20%.

Last year, Tesla and BYD were neck and neck in global EV sales, but BYD pulled ahead on revenue — outpacing Tesla by roughly $10 billion for the first time.

• Tesla's first-quarter delivery report showed the EV giant's business is in trouble.
• Industry observers told BI what Tesla has to do to stay competitive.
• They said more models, advanced tech, and advertising could be the answer.

Tesla just can't seem to catch a break.

The company's stock has fallen amid a backlash against CEO Elon Musk, and its latest delivery report on Wednesday showed its car sales business is fundamentally in trouble.

The company's Q1 deliveries dropped 13% from the previous year to just 336,700, well short of analysts' forecasts. Dan Ives, who is typically bullish on the automaker, called the figures "a disaster" that showed the automaker is in a "full-blown crisis."

Business Insider spoke to some of the auto industry's keenest observers about what the company needs to do to turn things around.

Launch more models

While the political backlash against Musk has grabbed headlines, lead editor for Kelley Blue Book Sean Tucker told BI that Tesla's aging product lineup was a big reason deliveries were falling.

He said the carmaker has been grappling with a downward trend in delivery numbers since February 2023.

"They grew from 2020 to 2023, and then they started shrinking," Tucker said, citing data from Kelley Blue Book that found Tesla hit a peak of 60,325 monthly US sales in February 2023.

The automaker began selling a revamped version of its bestselling Model Y earlier this year but has not launched a new vehicle since the Cybertruck in 2023.

While the Cybertruck was the top-selling vehicle in the small EV truck market in 2024, the pickup has failed to boost Tesla's sales numbers. In the first quarter of 2025, the company sold just 12,881 "other models," which includes the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X.

Michael Lenox, business professor and EV industry expert at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, told BI that European and Chinese manufacturers now have EV models that are "eating into" the lead Tesla once had.

"We've just seen massive entry by all the global existing incumbent auto manufacturers," he added.

Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, told BI that the number of EVs on the US market had ballooned from around 19 in 2020 to 78.

She said that this has made the launch of an affordable EV, which Tesla has said is set to go into production in the first half of 2025, even more crucial to the company.

"They need a new model that's affordable because affordability has been a huge issue for consumers," said Valdez Streaty.

She said that, with average new vehicle prices in the US now close to $50,000 and tariffs set to raise prices even further, the time is ripe for Tesla to launch a mass-market EV — especially as the company's factories in the US could shield it somewhat from the tariffs.

"Tesla has said in the past that they are between two waves of growth, so they need something to propel them to that next growth wave," said Valdez Streaty.

While some might consider a sub-$30,000 vehicle Tesla's saving grace, Tucker said that the company hasn't indicated its affordable EV will necessarily be a high-volume product. He said it would likely be a new version of a Model 3 or Model Y with a smaller battery or different battery technology.

"That's not really a compelling high-volume product that's going to win them a bunch of sales, at least in the United States," Tucker said.

Release more advanced tech

Lenox said Tesla also needed to focus on "pushing the technology forward so they can get more capacity and lower cost out of the battery."

Lenox told BI that Tesla's Chinese competitor, BYD, not only has more models on the road but also dominates the battery value chain. BYD reported 416,00 deliveries in the first quarter Tuesday, far more than Tesla.

BYD's latest advancement in charging strengthens its position as a leading global EV company, Lenox said.

BYD recently announced new chargers that it said could add almost 250 miles of range to an EV in five minutes. The 1,000 kW chargers are four times as powerful as Tesla's current 250 kW chargers, which Tesla has said can add 200 miles of range in 15 minutes. Tesla plans to roll out 500 kW chargers this year, but that's still half the output BYD claims to be able to provide.

Tucker added that Tesla has "nothing particularly exciting in the pipeline" on the tech front. Teslas are built on a 400-volt system, and most rivals are now built on an 800-volt system, which allows for faster charging and better performance.

While Tesla is due to launch its robotaxi service in Austin this summer, Tucker said that Tesla's rivals have already launched robotaxis — and struggled to make them profitable.

"Maybe Tesla has some secret sauce that it can make it work in a way that GM didn't," Tucker said. "But even if it did, I don't know that anyone goes out and buys a Tesla because they enjoyed driving in Tesla's robotaxi," he continued.

Ramp up advertising

Tesla has traditionally been reluctant to advertise, preferring to rely on Elon Musk's social media and word of mouth.

He said in 2019 that he "hates" advertising, and the automaker only began ramping up its ads spending in 2023 after shareholders asked about it.

Tesla's ad-lite approach may have worked when the company was the only EV game in town — but now that competition is on the rise and with the damage to Tesla's brand mounting, Valdez Streaty said the automaker could benefit from a marketing blitz.

She said, "There's more competition, and how do you kind of elevate your brand or your models when there's so much out there?"

Tesla has benefited from endorsements from Musk's ally, President Donald Trump. Last month, Trump marveled at a fleet of Tesla vehicles at a press event on the White House lawn. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick even told people to buy the dip as the company's stock fell.

These were in response to protests, vandalism, and attacks against the company over Musk's involvement with the administration and his other political interventions. Analysts have cited politics as part of the reason for the company's stock decline.

Sales too, will likely be affected if the anti-Tesla movement continues, Tucker said.

"Not a lot of people are going to cross a picket line to buy a car," he added.

• BYD, Tesla's Chinese rival, has been on a tear, with sales up 60% in the first three months of 2025.
• Tesla announced its worst quarterly sales since 2022 on Wednesday.
• Given its dire first-quarter deliveries, Elon Musk may be lucky Americans can't buy BYD cars.

After Tesla's rough start to the year, Elon Musk is probably lucky that Americans can't buy BYD cars.

Tesla's Chinese rival had another spectacular quarter, with sales jumping 60% in the first three months of 2025.

BYD has sold about 416,000 EVs and 570,000 hybrids this year. Tesla vehicle deliveries, meanwhile, came in well below analyst expectations, with the automaker announcing first-quarter deliveries of 336,700 EVs on Wednesday.

It's the second successive quarter that BYD has outsold its rival, with Tesla battling plunging sales as protests against Musk and DOGE spread worldwide.

Most concerningly for Musk, a growing proportion of BYD's sales are coming from outside China.

In March, the Warren Buffett-backed automaker reported record overseas sales for the third time this year as it expands aggressively in international markets.

By contrast, Tesla's sales in Europe, its third-biggest market behind the US and China, collapsed by 42% in the first two months of the year.

High tariffs mean BYD does not sell its cars in the US, but it's squeezing Tesla in China by undercutting it on price and overtaking it on innovation.

BYD on Tuesday opened presales of its Tai 3 SUV, which has a range of just over 300 miles and starts at 139,800 yuan, or about $19,270. There's also a version that includes BYD's on-board drone system priced at 203,800 yuan, or about $28,000.

BYD has also unveiled new self-driving technology and ultrafast charging tech this year, and last month announced annual revenues that outstripped Tesla's.

Meanwhile, Tesla's stock price has collapsed since hitting a high in December, with more investors expressing angst over Musk's involvement with DOGE.

Shares dipped again on Wednesday after Tesla announced its first-quarter deliveries before rebounding in afternoon trading.

• Tesla and BYD are locked in a battle to be the world's largest EV company.
• BYD has piled the pain on its rival this year, with its sales and revenue surging as Tesla stutters.
• Business Insider crunched the numbers to see how the two companies squared up.

The Chinese EV maker BYD is piling the pain on Tesla.

It has reported soaring sales and revenue even as Tesla has been battered by plunging sales in China, a diving stock price, and public backlash against CEO Elon Musk's work for the DOGE office.

As BYD and Tesla square off, here are five charts showing how the two companies compare.

BYD's overall vehicle sales dwarfed Tesla's last year.

The Warren Buffett-backed electric vehicle giant sold 4.27 million vehicles in 2024, compared with Tesla's 1.78 million.

The caveat is that BYD, unlike Tesla, sells hybrids as well as EVs. The Chinese firm sold 1.76 million battery-electric vehicles in 2024, meaning it fell just short of Tesla's EV-sales crown.

Tesla will face a fight to retain its status as the world's largest EV maker this year, with sales plunging across the globe in the first few months of the year as BYD has surged.

Last week, BYD reported blowout full-year earnings, with revenues overtaking Tesla's for the first time since 2018.

The Chinese EV giant reported 2024 annual revenues of 777 billion yuan, or about $107 billion, a nearly 30% rise from the previous year.

That means BYD leapfrogged Tesla's 2024 annual revenue, which came in at $97.7 billion.

BYD's profits also surged in 2024. The automaker said Monday that its net profit jumped 34% year over year to just over 40 billion yuan.

That still leaves it behind Tesla, with Musk's company booking a $7.1 billion net profit in 2024.

One thing that sets Tesla and BYD apart from legacy automakers is that they both make much more than cars.

The two companies have their own side hustles, with about 21% of Tesla's revenue last year coming from its energy-generation and services businesses.

In addition to offering its Megapack and Powerwall battery systems, Tesla sells regulatory credits to rivals that have failed to sell enough EVs to meet government quotas.

BYD, meanwhile, has a lucrative side business assembling and building components for smartphones, including Apple's iPhone.

The Chinese company, which began its life making phone batteries, said one-fifth of its revenue last year came from "mobile handset components, assembly service and other products."

Tesla's share price fall since the start of the year has been one for the history books.

Investor concerns over Musk's work at DOGE and some alarming sales figures have seen the automaker's stock slump 30% this year, despite a recent resurgence following Musk's late-night all-hands in March.

By contrast, BYD's stock has surged in 2025, and it hit a record high in March after it announced fast chargers it said could juice up an electric car in five minutes.

Tesla stock fell 5% that day as BYD announced its "Super e-Platform."

• Tesla is having a rough year, but the company's Chinese rivals are having a great few months.
• Shares in BYD, Geely, and Xpeng have surged in 2025, even as Tesla's stock price has plunged.
• The strong performance of Tesla's Chinese competitors adds to the challenges Elon Musk faces right now.

It's been a rough year for Tesla — and a very good one for its Chinese rivals.

While Tesla's stock has climbed a little in recent days, it is down 40% since mid-December. By contrast, its Chinese rivals' share prices have surged on the back of booming sales and breakthroughs in autonomous driving and EV charging.

BYD's share price has risen almost 40% so far in 2025 and hit a record high last week after it unveiled new charging tech it says can charge an EV in five minutes.

EV startup Xpeng has seen an 85% rise in its share price in the first three months of the year, while Nio and automotive conglomerate Geely — which owns EV startup Zeekr and others — have also enjoyed double-digit share price rallies.

The stock divergence comes as Tesla faces numerous challenges in China, its second-largest market behind the US.

Once the most innovative player in the world's largest car market, Elon Musk's automaker has lost market share as local rivals have undercut Tesla on price with a wave of affordable EVs and hybrids.

The likes of BYD, Xiaomi, and Xpeng are now eyeing up Tesla's tech crown too, packing their cars with new autonomous driving and AI features and branching out into humanoid robots and flying cars.

As warning lights flash across Elon Musk's EV empire, here are four reasons the billionaire should be most worried about China.

Sales collapse as rivals surge

Tesla has seen sales plunge around the globe this year — but the drop in China comes as its local rivals enjoy a sales boom.

Sales of Teslas manufactured in China dropped nearly 50% in February compared to the previous year, even as BYD saw its own sales rise by 161%.

This week, BYD released its 2024 annual results, revealing that it had surpassed Tesla in overall revenue. It reported revenues of 777 billion yuan, equivalent to around $107 billion at the latest exchange rate. By contrast, Tesla had revenue of $97 billion in 2024.

The 30,688 vehicles Elon Musk's company shipped from its Shanghai plant was the lowest since August 2022, and was only narrowly ahead of rival Xpeng.

Tesla's sales will likely get a boost in the coming months from the rollout of an upgraded version of its best-selling Model Y, with deliveries beginning this month.

But the company still faces a raft of competition from more affordable alternatives such as smartphone-maker Xiaomi's SU7 electric sedan, prices of which start around $6,000 cheaper than Tesla's new Model Y.

Upstaged on autonomous driving

After years of waiting, Tesla owners in China have finally got access to some of the company's 'Full Self-Driving' features.

The company began rolling out limited driver-assist features last month to Chinese users who have paid about $8,800 extra for access.

That sum is only slightly less than the cost of BYD's cheapest car — the $9,500 Seagull EV — and it came after Tesla's Chinese rival announced it would install its own autonomous driving tech on its entire model lineup for free.

BYD's announcement set off a ripple effect across the industry.

Other EV makers, like Xpeng and Zeekr, quickly announced they would include driver-assist features on upcoming models. Zeekr CEO Andy An told CNBC that the EV startup would follow BYD's lead by offering the features at no extra cost.

BYD's charging breakthrough

Weeks after unveiling its "God's Eye" autonomous tech, BYD made headlines around the globe again as it announced a new EV charging system that promised to charge an electric vehicle in five minutes.

The automaker says its new 1,000 kW chargers can add 250 miles of range in five minutes, outstripping Tesla's current superchargers, which can add 200 miles of range in 15 minutes.

The unveiling of BYD's "super e-platform" last Tuesday sent the company's stock surging to a record high, pushing Tesla's share price down on the same day.

Tesla's supercharger network has been crucial to the company's EV expansion, but BYD's announcement suggests the Chinese firm has taken a key technological lead over its rival.

Tesla's China headache goes global

Right now, the pressures Tesla is facing from its Chinese rivals are confined to China — but that may not stay the case for very long.

China's EV makers are increasingly going global as they look to expand beyond the country's hyper-competitive domestic market.

Exports of EVs and hybrids from China hit a record high in January, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, and BYD reported successive record overseas sales in January and February.

While China's EV giants are blocked from competing with Tesla in the US thanks to high tariffs, the likes of BYD, Xpeng, and Zeekr are expanding rapidly in Europe, where Tesla's sales have plummeted in the first few months of the year.

In the UK, which has no tariffs on Chinese EVs, BYD outsold Tesla for the first time in January, and Tesla's sales in Europe were also overtaken by Chinese state-owned manufacturer SAIC Motor.

Competition from Chinese brands is likely to grow, with Xiaomi president William Lu confirming that the company plans to sell EVs globally "within the next few years" earlier this month.

• Cathie Wood said Tesla's cars are "still very competitive, if not the most competitive."
• Wood said Tesla still wins in "metrics like range and power for a given price."
• Chinese automaker BYD's revenue outpaced Tesla's last year.

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood says she's confident in Tesla's ability to fend off rivals like BYD in the EV race.

"So we're looking at the BYD cars, and they are fabulous, from what we can see — fit, finish, design," Wood told Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong.

"If you look at metrics like range and power for a given price, Tesla is still very competitive, if not the most competitive, depending on the model of car," Wood added.

Chinese automaker BYD's performance has put a spanner in Tesla's plans to remain the world's biggest EV manufacturer. The company's revenue outpaced Tesla's in 2024, and it recently unveiled chargers that are four times more powerful than Tesla's and can charge an EV in 5 minutes.

But Wood told Bloomberg investors need to consider the additional value Tesla can get from its work in autonomous driving.

Tesla's robotaxis will "account for 90% of the value of the company in five years" because of the relatively higher margins that come from selling self-driving software instead of EVs, Wood added.

"So we think Tesla and BYD are both in the lead from an EV point of view alone. If you layer in robotaxi, of course, BYD is not seizing the moment there, at least not yet," Wood said.

In the interview, Wood said she still stood by Ark Invest's $2,600 price target for Tesla. Her investment management firm issued the price target in June.

"And that's not even including humanoid robots, which are now moving into the Tesla ecosystem much faster than even we expected. So more than a tenfold increase just from robotaxis," Wood said, referencing Tesla's Optimus robots.

Tesla's stock price has plunged by over 40% from its record highs in mid-December. The company's shares closed at about $278 on Monday, down from a peak closing price of $479 in December.

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk name-dropped Wood during an all-hands meeting on Thursday when he told employees autonomous vehicles would increase the company's value.

"It's so profound and there's no comparison with anything in the past. It just does not compute. But it will compute in the future. And some people, like Cathie Wood at Ark Invest, do see the future," Musk told employees on Thursday.

"So what I am saying is, 'Hang on to your stock,'" Musk added.

To be sure, Wood isn't the only investor who believes that Tesla can withstand competition from BYD.

Christopher Tsai, the president and chief investment officer of Tsai Capital, told Business Insider last week that the EV market's potential for growth means Tesla and BYD can coexist.

"We're talking about almost a hundred million vehicles a year, and there's room for more than one player," Tsai, who has millions in Tesla, said.

"History shows that people will pay for something that is superior, even if there is a competing option that is free," Tsai added.

Tesla and BYD did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

• The Chinese EV giant passed $100 billion in revenue in 2024, topping Tesla's $97.7 billion.
• BYD is cementing its place as the world's largest EV maker after selling 4.27 million EVs in 2024.
• Tesla saw its first annual sales drop in a decade, delivering 1.79 million vehicles in 2024.

Tesla's fierce battle to remain the world's top EV company has just hit another roadblock.

On Monday, Chinese EV giant BYD reported annual revenues of 777 billion yuan for 2024. At current exchange rates, that equates to roughly $107 billion. By contrast, Tesla's annual revenue last year was $97.7 billion.

BYD's net profit jumped 34% year-over-year to just over 40 billion yuan, equivalent to $5.55 billion at current exchange rates. That exceeded analyst expectations of $5.44 billion, though it was below Tesla's $7.1 billion 2024 profit.

BYD's sales surge has been relentless. In January, it sold nearly twice as many EVs as Tesla, which saw sales slump by 11% year-over-year.

By early December, the Chinese carmaker had already surpassed its annual target, selling over 3.7 million cars in 11 months — eclipsing its 3.6 million goal with a month to spare. Ultimately, it sold 4.27 million EVs in 2024.

Tesla, meanwhile, suffered its first annual sales decline in more than a decade. It delivered 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, down 1% from 2023's 1.81 million, despite a record-breaking 495,570 vehicle deliveries in Q4.

Adding to Tesla's woes, BYD last week unveiled super-fast 1,000 kW chargers it says can add almost 250 miles of range to an electric vehicle in five minutes — four times as powerful as Tesla's current 250 kW chargers, which Elon Musk's automaker says can add 200 miles of range in 15 minutes. Tesla plans to roll out 500 kW chargers this year.

Tesla has also had a rough start to the year. CEO Musk's aggressive cost-cutting efforts at DOGE have sparked a backlash against his EV maker, with Tesla facilities facing arson attacks, vandalism, and boycott calls across the US and Europe.

Over the past three months, Tesla stock has more than halved, and JPMorgan analysts slashed their price target to $135.

However, the stock jumped as much as 10% on Monday, extending gains since Musk called a last-minute all-hands meeting with staff last Thursday.

BYD also faces challenges in its quest for global expansion, including protective measures like Russia's import taxes, the US' high tariffs, and EU tariffs.

BYD's executive vice president, Stella Li, told The Sunday Times of London the tariffs would have the opposite effect and "weaken" local industries.

Swedish EV battery maker Northvolt, once seen as Europe's hope for an EV battery manufacturer to rival Asian automakers, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. It cited growing capital costs, geopolitical instability, supply chain disruptions, and fluctuating demand as reasons for its bankruptcy.

Li also dismissed claims that BYD enjoys unfair state subsidies and accused European automakers of lagging behind Chinese brands in innovation.

"Our car is more stylish than any European-designed cars," she told the newspaper. "Our car is more intelligent."

Time and again, studies and surveys identify the time it takes to charge an electric vehicle as one of the most significant hurdles affecting EV adoption. For generations, drivers have gotten used to being able to refuel their cars in five minutes using energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons, and plenty of them balk at the idea of having to drive a car where recharging a battery takes half an hour or more. Now it seems that may not be an excuse for much longer—in China, at least.

New tech has been developed by BYD, the Chinese automaker that recently eclipsed Tesla as the leading EV maker by volume. Called the "super e-platform," the new batteries are able to charge at 10C, and the new DC chargers peak at 1,000 kW. BYD says this will add 249 miles (400 km) of range in just five minutes. By contrast, most current Tesla Superchargers peak at 250 kW, with Electrify America's chargers maxing out at 350 kW, and even the powerful new chargers used by Formula E can only reach 600 kW.

"Our goal is to make EV charging as fast as refueling a gasoline car," said BYD chairperson Wang Chuanfu.

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Comments

• BYD may have snatched the lead in the race to build EVs that can charge as quickly as gas vehicles.
• Tesla's nemesis announced new chargers it says can add up to 250 miles of range in five minutes.
• Ultrafast chargers helped build Elon Musk's EV empire. Now, BYD is coming for the throne.

BYD may have taken a huge step closer to making EV charging as easy as filling up with gas, and that could be a major problem for Tesla.

The Chinese EV giant on Monday unveiled new chargers that it says can add almost 250 miles of range to an electric vehicle in five minutes.

BYD's new 1,000 kW chargers are four times as powerful as Tesla's current 250 kW chargers, which Elon Musk's automaker says can add 200 miles of range in 15 minutes. Tesla plans to roll out 500 kW chargers this year.

The reveal of BYD's new "super E-platform" sparked a share price rally, with the company's stock jumping as much as 4% to hit a record high.

Tesla's Supercharger network, which Elon Musk's company began offering in China in 2014, has been crucial in helping it become the world's biggest EV company.

But lengthy charging times and range anxiety are still cited as some of the main reasons people are reluctant to buy EVs. That has sparked a global race to build batteries and chargers that can make charging an electric car as simple as filling up a tank of gas.

The Chinese firms Zeekr and CATL unveiled batteries that could almost fully charge in 10 minutes last year, while Mercedes-Benz last week said its new CLA coupe would be able to add up to 200 miles of range in 10 minutes.

BYD now appears to have leapfrogged its rivals in China and elsewhere with its new charging tech. The tech is set to make its debut on the company's new Han and Tang L EVs, set to go on sale later this year for 270,000 to 360,000 yuan, or $37,300 to $49,800.

"In order to completely solve users' charging anxiety, our goal is to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refueling time of fuel vehicles," BYD's chairman and founder, Wang Chuanfu, said at a press conference.

The new chargers are the latest in a spree of technological advances announced by BYD in recent weeks.

The company in February said it would install advanced self-driving features on its entire vehicle lineup, and earlier this month it unveiled a new roof-mounted drone system.

EV companies in China are under huge pressure to roll out high-tech features such as autonomous driving and voice control as they compete to survive in the country's brutally competitive car market.

Tesla, which counts China as one of its most important markets, is also feeling the heat.

The US automaker saw its Chinese sales fall 49% in February — compared with a 161% rise for BYD — and began offering free trials of its own autonomous driving system on Monday as it looks to claw back market share.

• China sold one million vehicles to Russia last year, about 7 times more than in 2022.
• Russia fears its own carmakers are being undermined.
• Moscow has imposed higher import duties on Chinese-made cars.

China is selling plenty of cars in Russia — and Moscow isn't entirely happy about it.

Chinese automakers sold more than one million vehicles to Russia last year, a sevenfold increase from the previous year, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) reported by The Financial Times. Russia is China's biggest export market, with a share of about 30%.

The rise prompted Moscow to raise import taxes on most cars to about $7,500 in recent weeks, up from about $5,790 in October, with further annual increases planned.

A report from the Rhodium Group published in December said that Russia's decision to impose higher duties showed "how even China's close geopolitical ally is averse to becoming a dumping ground for Chinese excess capacity."

Chinese brands owned by manufacturers including Chery, Geely, and Great Wall Motor have close to two thirds of the Russian auto market, according to the CPCA. Most have internal combustion engines, reflecting low demand for electric vehicles in Russia.

The rise of Chinese manufacturers, boosted substantially by the withdrawal of Western companies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has sparked concern about the viability of Russian automakers.

Avtovaz Maxim Sokolov, CEO of Russian state-owned carmaker AvtoVAZ, said last year that the influx of Chinese cars posed "a real threat to the sustainable existence of the domestic automotive and component industries."

China exported 6.41 million vehicles last year, up 23% year-on-year, with Russia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates making up the top three destinations, per the CPCA.

China's more affordable high-tech premium cars — especially its EVs — are displacing German and Japanese automakers in markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Southeast Asia.

The EU voted in October to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese EVs, while the US introduced trade restrictions in May 2024.

In response, Chinese EV manufacturers such as BYD, Geely, and SAIC are expanding overseas through strategic investments and local production facilities to help avoid tariffs and tap into growing demand.