BYD has already overtaken Tesla as the world’s most preferred electric vehicle manufacturer and its coming for legacy car makers next.China-based electric vehicle manufacturer Build Your Dreams has yet to sell its cars in the US market. However, the company has made big waves in the automobile sector by toppling Tesla off its perch. It is now spooking automobile markets with its recently announced steep discounts.
In 2023, BYD recorded sales of 1.57 million EVs, displacing Tesla as the top choice for these new-generation no-emission cars. BYD’s rise is meteoric since the car company had managed only about 131,000 vehicle sales in 2020. Actually, before BYD’s cars became available for sale in the US, the carmaker announced discounts across its 100 existing models.
Specifications-wise, the Seagull is slightly smaller than the Chevrolet Bolt EV, which has been discontinued. Its range of 190 miles on a single charge is lower than the segment average, and its top speed of 80 miles an hour isn’t impressive either.For Seagull to enter the EV market, BYD would need to comply with the federal requirements for vehicles in the US, which would further increase its costs.
The company gains an edge in pricing by using its battery technology. Like Tesla, BYD adopted vertical integration and does not use expensive lithium-ion batteries in its EVs. Even as legacy carmakers are trying to replicate Tesla’s agile strategies to rapidly adapt to changing market needs, BYD has superseded Tesla from bringing disruptive new technologies to the market and doing so at scale.