What is BYD? How a battery maker beat Tesla to become the world’s largest EV company
This is the story of a young company that took a risky bet on electric vehicles (EVs) and grew into a giant.
No, it’s not Tesla.
It’s a brand you may not have heard of, because they sell so few cars in Australia.
But analysts say it may one day dominate the global auto industry.
The company is the Chinese car maker BYD, which recently overtook Tesla as the world’s largest EV company.
Having conquered China, it’s now racing to expand worldwide.
Experts say BYD and other Chinese EV-makers mark a new era in transportation, as significant as the Ford Model T in the 1900s, or the emergence of Japanese manufacturing in the 1970s.
Australia’s largest miner, BHP, is about to test run heavy-haul trucks with electric motors charged by renewable power in a bid to slash fossil fuel use that accounts for 40 per cent of its carbon emissions.