BYD Reaches 10 Million New Energy Vehicles!

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BYD has now become the first automaker to produce 10 million plugin vehicles (or “new energy vehicles” as they are called in China). I’m going to be honest — when the BYD e6 was the company’s “popular” electric vehicle, mostly with taxi companies, I was not particularly bullish on the company getting to 10 million new energy vehicles (NEVs), let alone getting there before anyone else! But here we are.

As BYD started selling more compelling plugin vehicles, like the Tang and Qin, BYD started to spark our interest a lot more. And we got to interview BYD founder, chairman, and CEO Wang Chuanfu in person on a couple of occasions and asked whether these vehicles would come to the US and Europe. Little did we know at the time that 1) BYD would have so much demand in China that would not become necessary, and 2) the company would rapidly develop so many other NEVs that much better options would be on the table by the time BYD went to Europe (and maybe eventually the US).

The most exciting thing about BYD’s growth lately is that it is quickly expanding around the world. In all sorts of markets — from Ethiopia to Colombia to Australia — BYD is bringing out a variety of electric vehicles. Its broad, diverse lineup makes it possible for the company to enter any market on the planet. As a result of that and its continued growth in China, BYD just reached 500,000 sales in one month and could well become the largest automaker in the world in the next couple of years.

Anyway, the latest news is that BYD has produced its 10 millionth NEV, just in time for its 30th birthday. The company was formed in 1995, initially with 20 employees, and was not an automaker at that time. But it went from batteries to autos and then phased out autos without batteries. It now has more than 900,000 employees globally.

Its 10 millionth NEV rolled off the production line yesterday and was the brand new Z9, launched just three days earlier at the 2024 Guangzhou auto show. There was some sort of planning involved here, somehow, as this Z9 was for Feng Ji, founder and CEO of Game Science, which crated the Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong that BYD has a partnership with.

“BYD, the world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and power batteries, today marked a historic moment in its 30th-anniversary celebration with the roll-off of its 10-millionth NEV at its Xiaomo Production Base in the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone. This significant achievement underscores BYD’s unwavering commitment to sustainable transportation and reinforces its position as a global leader in the automotive industry,” BYD writes.

“Achieving the milestone of 10 million NEVs is a testament to BYD’s steadfast commitment to sustainable development. The company is now the first automaker in the world to reach this groundbreaking figure. Remarkably, BYD took 15 years to produce the first 5 million NEVs and achieved the next 5 million in just 15 months, demonstrating the company’s strategic focus on new energy vehicles and its continuous technological advancement.” Refreshing words at a time when it seems like every other automaker is intent on going backward.

“The soul of BYD’s engineers is the soul of our company,” Wang Chuanfu said. BYD added: “To provide an in-depth look into BYD’s culture, Qin Shuo, a renowned Chinese financial journalist and author, conducted interviews with nearly 100 mid-to-senior level executives and employees. These insights have been compiled into the book The Soul of Engineers.” We look forward to reading that book.

One thing we know for sure: it will take much less than 15 years for BYD to produce another 10 million EVs. Even at its current rate of 500,000 a month, it would take just 20 months.