Why BYD doesn’t have what it takes to dethrone Tesla long term

BYD passed Tesla in global revenue in 2024, but it still sold fewer actual electric vehicles. Including plug-in hybrids, BYD’s total volume nearly doubled Tesla’s last year.

As of Q2 2025, the Chinese automaker’s shares have jumped more than 40%, while Tesla’s dropped by about the same amount. This comes as BYD continues to flood the EV market with dozens of new models across a wide price range.

The company’s push to reposition itself as a tech leader—not just a budget EV manufacturer—has gained traction in the last few years. It now produces most of its own components in-house, including batteries. These batteries are widely considered some of the most advanced in the industry.

Speaking about the growing concern among global auto players, Michael Dunne, CEO of Dunne Insights, said , “When Western automakers talk about an existential threat coming out of China, they’re definitely talking about this company called BYD.” Michael added:

“They have so many components in their arsenal. They have scale. They make their own batteries, some of the best batteries in the world. They’re low cost. They’re innovating. They’re designing better-looking cars all the time. They have cars that are priced from $10,000 to $230,000. I mean, across the board, they check all the boxes. And that’s why people are scared. Terrified of BYD.”

BYD tries to scale innovation fast, but skeptics remain

In its latest move, BYD unveiled a new platform that it claims can deliver 250 miles of driving range in just five minutes of charging—about the time it takes to fill up a gas tank. The company has framed this as a major leap in charging tech. It would make BYD cars faster to charge than most of the market, including premium brands. The Lucid Air, for example, only delivers 200 miles of range in about 12 minutes.

One reason this new charging platform could threaten competitors is BYD’s ability to drop tech into cars at lower prices. In a recent example, the company added a driver assistance system across its entire product line for free. Tesla , on the other hand, still charges extra for its “Full Self-Driving” option. Lei Xing, an analyst who follows China’s EV market, said, “Tesla, right now, it’s definitely not for all. BYD is trying to do it for all.”

Still, not every expert is convinced the tech will hold up in the real world. Some EV analysts warn that delivering that kind of fast charging could come with steep costs and technical problems. They’ve pointed out that building a system that’s fast, reliable, and affordable is still a major hurdle. Even if BYD pulls it off, they say drivers might not need ultra-fast charging as much as automakers think.

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