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Ffourteen years later Elon Musk scoffs at the idea of BYD becoming a Tesla rivalThe Chinese automaker overtook U.S. rivals to become the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles.
BYD’s latest sales data shows that sales in 2025 will reach 2.26 million vehicles, nearly 700,000 vehicles higher than Tesla’s sales. That means electric vehicle sales are up 28% since 2024, while Musk’s company is down 8% over the same period.
This marks the second consecutive year of sales decline for Tesla. It had risen every year for the decade before that.
BYD’s dominance has been bolstered by recent technological breakthroughs and Tesla’s declining reputation around the world.
Last year, the Shenzhen-based company achieved what some industry experts call the “Holy Grail” of electric vehicles: a vehicle that can Charging time is the same as filling the tank.
The Super E-Platform can charge up to 400 kilometers (249 miles) in just 5 minutes, roughly four times the range of most Tesla Superchargers at the same time.
BYD said the system, which is currently only available on its flagship “L” series cars, will “completely solve users’ range anxiety when traveling.”
BYD’s technological breakthrough coincides with Musk’s actions sparking calls for a boycott of the Tesla brand.
Last year, support from far-right politicians in Europe and the tech billionaire’s alliance with the Trump administration sparked protests at Tesla showrooms and charging stations in Britain, Europe and the United States.
Musk’s polarizing political views contributed to Tesla’s brand reputation plummeting last year, according to an Axios Harris poll.
In a ranking of the 100 most well-known companies in the United States, the company ranked last for “character” and also last for “ethics” and “citizenship.”
Musk has yet to publicly release the latest sales figures. independent Tesla has been contacted for comment. In an interview with CNBC in May 2025, he described Chinese electric car manufacturers as “extremely competitive” but claimed that he did not follow news about BYD.
“I don’t really think about the competition,” he said. “I just want the product to be as perfect as possible.”
Tesla’s Robotic Transformation
In recent years, the Tesla boss has tried to reposition his company as an artificial intelligence and robotics company rather than just an electric car maker. In 2022, he claims that the robot Optimus Prime will eventually become More valuable than the car business.
This shift comes despite growing global demand for electric vehicles, especially in China and Europe.
Tesla’s Optimus robot is designed to navigate the world in a similar way to humans to fill a variety of manual labor roles.
“Essentially, manual work is going to be an option in the future,” Musk said at the 2021 unveiling of the humanoid robot. “If you want to do it, you can do it, but you don’t have to do it… It has profound consequences for the economy because the fundamental layer of the economy is labor.”
Early Optimus units are expected to run in Tesla factories, although Musk claims it will eventually “do whatever you want.”
Speaking at the company’s 2024 “We, the Robots” event, he said: “It can be a teacher, take care of your kids; it can walk your dog, mow your lawn, buy groceries; just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do it.”
This vision has been questioned by some robotics experts, who claim that the need for robots will be specialized machines that are good at performing specific tasks, rather than general-purpose robots that must be reprogrammed.
Rodney Brooks, a roboticist at MIT who co-founded Roomba maker iRobot, said Musk’s idea of a universal humanoid assistant was technically and financially unfeasible.
“The overall plan is that humanoid robots will be ‘insertion-compatible’ with humans and be able to step in and do the manual work done by humans at a lower price,” he wrote in a September report. blog post.
“In my opinion, it is pure fantasy to believe that this will happen anytime within a few decades.”