As people are becoming more and more nature conscious, the sales of electric vehicles are growing at a faster rate over the years. A new report claims that there is a huge surge in EV sales as they have grown by 61% and will reach the 2.18 million unit mark in the second quarter of this year alone. However, there is not so much good news for Tesla founder Elon Musk. China’s BYP Auto has reportedly surpassed one-time world leader Tesla to become the top-selling EV brand. While this is shocking news, we have all the details that led to this dethronement.
China’s BYD Beast Tesla
In recent years, Tesla has secured its position as the global leader in electronic vehicles time and time again. But for the first time, BYP Auto took on Tesla. BYD Auto is recorded to have delivered over 354,000 EV units, resulting in a whopping jump of 266 percent year-on-year.
Compared to that number, Tesla’s global sales jumped 27 percent year-over-year to more than 254,000. However, it fell well short of what was initially expected. While Covid has boosted Tesla’s business in the US, in China the numbers have been deeply affected due to frequent shutdowns.
Total EV sales consist of two main segments, electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) make up 72% of sales, while hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) contribute the rest. Counterpoint Research presented this data and then we understand that China is the leader in EV sales in both the European and American markets.
To be precise, China’s electric vehicle sales have witnessed nearly 92% year-on-year growth to reach 1.24 million units, starting from just 0.64 units in the second quarter of 2021.
Soumen Mandal, Senior Analyst said, “As global semiconductor shortages eased a bit, carmakers are able to cater to the growing demand for electric vehicles. Also, EV sales would have been higher had China not experienced new outbreaks of Covid-19 in March.”
On the other hand, Neil Shahstated the Vice President of Research, “Incentives play a crucial role in increasing EV adoption. For example, China’s strong incentive program for both car manufacturers and consumers has helped the country become a world leader in electric vehicles,” “Apart from the big markets, smaller markets such as India, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia have started to provide various benefits to electric car buyers and car manufacturers either directly as a price discount or tax exemption.
Elon Musk aims to sell 20 million electric cars by 2030
In addition to all this, Elon Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla Inc., has stated that his goal is to sell almost 20 million electric vehicles by 2030. This is a growth plan that the founder promised to his shareholders and also claims to follow the adoption of sustainable energy. If that happens, Tesla will become twice as big as any car maker in history has ever achieved. In the event that the forecast comes true, Tesla will take almost 20% of the entire global car market in operation.
For such a plan, however, Musk will face many challenges. Getting enough batteries and critical raw materials like lithium as well as nickel is quite a challenge when it comes to servicing 20 million vehicles. In addition, the price will be quite high. If projections are anything to go by, then Tesla will need to spend around $400 billion or more over the next eight years to meet its goals.
BYD had a staggering 183% year-over-year sales increase!
We are committed to building more #Sustainable future! #BuildYourDreams #EV #Sustainability #Electric vehicles pic.twitter.com/UwbjAGTwbH
— BYD (@BYDCompany) August 3, 2022
Musk said “In the long term, we expect to be doing on the order of 3,000 gigawatt hours or 3 terawatt hours a year,” “I think we have a good chance of actually doing that before 2030, but I’m very confident that we can do it by 2030.”
While it seems like quite a tall order, we don’t know what else could be possible for Musk. So for now, Tesla EV sales are lagging and hopefully they will live up to Musk’s expectations in the near future. What do you think about that question?
Stay tuned for more updates, Lee Daily.