BYD surpasses Tesla, making Tesla the second-largest now

Sales by BYD, the Chinese automaker backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, ousted Elon Musk's Tesla as the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles globally, highlighting China's expanding dominance in the sector.

The popularity of electric vehicles is growing every day, and while you already knew who the leading competitor in the market was—Tesla, which sold 564,000 cars—the rivalry is now tougher and more intense. Due to lockdowns and travel restrictions brought on by the coronavirus, Tesla has blamed supply chain and sales interruptions in China for its difficult second quarter.

Comparatively, According to company records, Shenzhen-based BYD sold 641,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, an increase of more than 300% over the same period in 2016. With size and cost advantages across a large portion of the supply chain for electric vehicles, batteries, and wind and solar energy, BYD's growth exemplify China's progress in the renewable energy sector.

Yeah!! Tesla is currently the second-largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, with BYD serving as its main rival.

Jeff Chung, an auto analyst at Citigroup, said of BYD's increase in sales, "The result is exceptional."

Several BYD models meet the requirements for "zero emission" vehicles under China's sales laws since they are plug-in hybrids, which use a sizable battery in addition to a traditional engine for longer trips.

What Are Cars With Zero Emissions? (ZEV)

"Zero-emission automobiles" are defined as forms of transportation that don't emit any hazardous gases while in use. The term "emissions" refers to substances that are known to be bad for the environment or people's health. They can include particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, various hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC), lead, mercury, and other heavy metals in volatile forms.

Examples of zero-emission vehicles include electric (battery-powered) cars, electric trains, vehicles fueled by hydrogen, and vehicles propelled by people or animals (e.g., bicycles, velomobiles, carriages, etc.).

Batteries for electric vehicles run on a charge/discharge cycle, which entails charging the battery in advance using an electrical source and discharging it while the car is moving. Additionally, the concept of "well-to-wheel emissions" is used, which encompasses not just operational emissions but also those related to the fuel source and other stages of the vehicle operation cycle. This is due to the possibility of emissions during the production of power. The phrase "zero-emission" is therefore conditional.

BYD, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, is now second in the world in terms of EV battery production only behind China's Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, which has overtaken LG.

LG Energy Solution (LGES) of South Korea announced intentions to invest KRW1.7 trillion (US$1.4 billion) to build its second completely owned battery factory in the US in order to compete with its rivals and meet the region's fast-growing demand for electric vehicles.

According to Seoul-based SNE Research, BYD has eclipsed LG Energy in terms of monthly market share since April. This was largely triggered by disruptions at Tesla's Shanghai factory when the city of Shanghai, China's most populous metropolis, was shut down for two months to combat an epidemic of Omicron coronavirus infections.

The Chinese EV producers Li Auto, Xpeng, and Nio, as well as Tesla, were more severely hit by the lockdowns than BYD, which benefited from the fact that most of its factories are not situated in the regions and cities that suffered the greatest restrictions.

However, according to specialists at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies, barely 2% of China's exports to Europe were made up of Chinese-owned European brands like Volvo Cars and Morris Garage Motor. Over 50% of the market was catered for by Tesla, with the remaining 14% being handled by European joint ventures in China.

According to Tu Le, general director of the consulting company Sino Auto Insights, BYD was "hitting on all cylinders" and had products for several significant EV market areas.

With its headquarters in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China, BYD Auto Co., Ltd., also known as "Build Your Dreams," is a part of the publicly listed Chinese multinational corporation BYD Company. It was founded in January 2003 following the BYD Company's 2002 acquisition of the Qinchuan Automobile Company. The company produces trucks, forklifts, electric bicycles, buses, and passenger cars. The company currently produces battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), but up to March 2022, it previously produced gasoline-powered automobiles.

He believed that BYD will eventually face off against foreign automakers in their home markets, notably the US. "They're going to make some fairly aggressive attempts to become worldwide," he said.

By 2021, BYD was the fourth-largest BEV manufacturer in the world, with a 9.1% worldwide market share for plug-in electric cars (BEV and PHEV) and a 7% global market share for BEVs. Sales are anticipated to reach over 100,000 per month in March 2022 and 1.5 million to 2 million plug-in EVs sold, which would be around three to four times as many as were sold in 2021. The company has focused chiefly on its sales in Mainland China, but it is fast growing into the global market. After selling almost 641,000 EVs in the first half of 2022, BYD Auto announced in June 2022 that it has surpassed Tesla to become the largest EV manufacturer in the world.

FinDreams Battery, a division of the company that specializes mostly in lithium iron phosphate batteries and is the fourth-largest producer of electric car batteries in the world with an 8.8% global market share, also produces electric batteries.

Electric vehicle (EV) producers Tesla, Li Auto, Xpeng, and Nio were among those affected by recent lockdowns in China, particularly in Shanghai. Production still continued since the majority of BYD's facilities are located in regions that did not endure protracted lockdowns.

It was the fourth-largest producer of electric vehicle batteries in the world and has now eclipsed LG in the EV battery sector, which was the second in the world, with a global market share of 8.8% and a major focus on lithium iron phosphate batteries. Tesla did sell 936,172 cars in 2021, but it's doubtful that the company will be able to recover the top rank. Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway holds a controlling stake in BYD, the second-largest producer of EV batteries in the world after LG. It's a powerful combination to control facilities that won't be impacted by lockdowns and have easy access to a lot of batteries.