BYD Will Kill Tesla

Even with these moronic tariffs.

Apr 15, 2025

Like all weird supervillains, Musk has a penchant for master plans and is happy to proclaim it to the world ad nauseam. While his plans for Mars, Twitter, and The Boring Company were all laughably moronic, his plan for Tesla didn’t seem so far-fetched — simply make Tesla the defacto EV and battery producer by pioneering new technology and scaling it more rapidly than anyone else to build a veritable monopoly and rake in the billions. There is only one problem: Musk has fumbled the bag. Not only has he let slip that he is actually a giant Nazi wannabe douche, leading to a global Tesla boycott, but also, his main competitor, BYD, is beating him at his own game. In fact, BYD is whaling on Tesla so hard it’s painful to watch. After all, even with Trump’s moronic tariffs, BYD is going to kill Tesla. This isn’t really a beating, more a cold-blooded public execution.

Most Americans have probably never even seen a BYD vehicle, but the rest of us know that BYD became the biggest EV maker on the planet when they overtook Tesla last year. How did they manage this feat? Well, they offered better cars at lower prices. However, thanks to their genius design, BYD managed to have nearly the exact same profit margin as Tesla (19%), meaning they are now by far the most profitable EV maker. In fact, their in-house batteries are so efficient that Ford, Toyota, Kia, VW, and the Stellantis groups have all partnered with BYD to use their batteries. Hell, even Tesla opted to use BYD batteries in its base Model Y over its own 4680 cells.

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This slight lead should have been enough to worry Elon. But now BYD has thrown down the gauntlet, leaving Tesla behind in its dust.

A few months ago, BYD announced its new Super e-Platform, and truth be told, it looked way too good to be true. But now, they have not only followed through on their promises but surpassed them!

The first cars based on this EV platform have begun to be delivered to their first customers, one of them being the Han L. The pre-launch price of this Model S-sized car was the equivalent of $37,000, yet now deliveries have started, that price has dropped to just $30,000! That is more than $12,000 cheaper than a base Model 3. And the Han L makes the Model 3 look like a kid’s toy.

The $30,000 base trim Han L comes with BYD’s new 1000V 83.2 kWh LFP Blade Battery. Not only does this give it a range of roughly 348 miles WLTP (the same as the Model 3), but it is also one of the fastest charging batteries ever made, reaching 1000 kW of peak charge rate, which is four times that of Tesla. On top of that, the average charge rate from 10% to 80% is 600 kW, or nearly six times that of Tesla’s average! So, if you hook up this affordable EV to a 1000 kW charger, it can add 248 miles of range in just five minutes or charge from 10% to 80% in around seven, which is a third of the time of the Tesla, and is about the same length of time to fill up a combustion vehicle! Even if you can’t find a 1000 kW charger, if you plug it into a 250 kW charger (like the ones from Tesla), it will still charge from 10% to 80% in just over ten minutes.

And here’s the thing: this is a battery that can charge incredibly fast and also dump its power incredibly fast. This base trim, Han L, has a 0 to 60 time of 6.9 seconds, which is about the same as the base Model 3. But the top-spec Han L, which is still far cheaper than the base Model 3 at $38,000 equivalent, has 1,100 HP and can do 0 to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds!

That’s right — for less than the cost of a Honda Civic Type R, you can buy this 1,100 HP EV that will out-drag race any Lamborghini and recharge as quickly as it takes to pump dino juice into one.

How is all of this possible? Well, it’s mostly the battery. BYD has pioneered LFP cells for years now. That is why Tesla decided to use their Blade Battery in the Model Y. But this new version of that battery uses clever techniques, like higher voltages and redesigned anodes, to massively increase their charge speed for only a tiny increase in price. I previously estimated that this new version cost only $105 per kWh, about the same as Tesla’s lacklustre 4680 cells, but that was based on the $37,000 launch price. With this new $30,000 launch price, I believe the price might be closer to $84 per kWh. And that is how this is all possible.

I cannot overstate how significantly this EV will impact the market. The Han L is already being delivered in China but will soon make it to Europe and possibly even the UK and Australia. Sure, these regions will have to pay annoying little things like import taxes, but even after these costs, it will still be cheaper than any Tesla! Tesla’s sales figures in these regions were already plummeting at record rates; this new competition will smash them into the ground! And, let’s not forget, for Tesla to even exist and pay its bills, it needs to keep its sales figures sky-high. This EV really could kill Tesla.

But the US is a safe space for Tesla, right? Trump’s 145% China tariffs would prevent any BYD technology from making it to US shores.

Well, when including the price of tariffs and shipping, this new Blade Battery costs less than $20,000. That is about the same price as the batteries that go into the Model S and other premium EVs in the $60,000+ mark. Given that BYD has extensive relations with large manufacturers — including Ford, Kia, and VW (as well as their subsidiaries Audi and Porsche) — who all intend to build EVs in that sector, do you not think that they would want to be the first to bring this revolutionary technology to US shores? Hell, even if it cost $100,000, it would still demolish the competition.

So even with Trump’s daft protectionist policies, BYD is set to utterly dominate Tesla. While Musk banged on about pioneering new technology, he never really did. The only thing his companies have ever done is take off-the-shelf technology that has already been proven and optimise it. That isn’t enough to meet his grand master plan. Meanwhile, BYD has been putting in the effort and actually developing new revolutionary technology that puts the company head and shoulders above the rest of the industry. They have done the walk to meet Musk’s talk and are making Tesla obsolete in the process. It’s a free market; it’s global capitalism, and in that environment, BYD kills Tesla, even if Trump tries to make the playing field one-sided. Is it a wonder Musk is acting so scared and fragile, like a little dog backed into a corner?

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Sources: Car Scoops, Electrek, The Independent, TET, IBD, Will Lockett, Will Lockett, BT, Electrive, Car News China, CNBC