BYD, the Chinese automaker, has launched a new line of electric vehicles, claiming a five-minute charging time, which has significantly intensified its competition against Tesla in the increasingly competitive Chinese market.
BYD’s shares saw a rise of over 6% during early trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday. This surge increased the company’s market value to nearly $162 billion. This is larger than the combined market caps of Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen.
The new batteries featured in BYD’s EVs enable vehicles to travel 250 miles after only five minutes of charging. This places BYD ahead of Tesla’s Superchargers. Tesla’s chargers currently provide a range of 170 miles after 15 minutes of charging, according to Bloomberg.
This announcement arrives as Tesla’s shipments in China experienced a 49% decrease in February compared to the prior year. In the same month, sales in Germany, Europe’s largest EV market, declined by 76%.
An independent China auto analyst mentioned that BYD is driving the competition to new heights. An executive from an EV startup told Axios that Tesla’s role has shifted “from leader to laggard.”
