BYD Auto is the largest EV maker in China, overtaking Tesla

BYD overcame Tesla via state backing, cheaper cars, and vertical integration

The one-time battery company eclipsed Tesla in total sales in 2024. The Chinese-backed manufacturer targets low- to mid-tier cars and builds 75% of its components in-house. Its cars typically retail at half the cost of similar Tesla models.

As of January 2025, Tesla is the second best-selling EV company in the world

Chinese automaker BYD saw nearly three times as many registrations of electric vehicles as Tesla through the sales of its plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. Fellow Chinese competitor Geely sold 12.7% of all BEVs worldwide, surpassing Tesla's 12.4% share during the same period.

By designing a $35,000 car, Tesla sought to bring EVs into the mainstream

Despite production delays, factory struggles, and skepticism from established carmakers, Tesla reached its goal of making 5,000 Model 3s per week. This achievement marked a turning point, proving that electric vehicles could be scalable to meet increasing demand.

Explore a timeline of Tesla through 2025

Initially called Tesla Motors, the company was renamed Tesla Inc. in February 2017. Its Model Y became the world's bestselling EV worldwide by the end of 2023, overtaking the Model 3's title from 2020.

Tesla's production of a high-performance electric vehicle revived the EV industry

The Model 3 shifted public perception by showing that EVs could be fast and desirable, and built at scale. However, at one point, Tesla built an entirely manual production line in a tent outside its main factory to keep up with demand.

How lithium has become one of the world's most important elements

Lithium is the driving force behind electric vehicles as the key element in the lithium-ion batteries that power the cars. But as demand for EVs rises, will global lithium supply keep pace with demand? This report projects demand will reach up to four million metric tons of the mineral compound containing lithium by 2030, with batteries accounting for 95% of end-use applications.

Over-the-air updates, pioneered by Tesla, have become the industry standard

Tesla's innovative direct-to-consumer sales model and online ordering system changed car-buying, and the Model S, which had a 200-mile range, forced other automakers to enhance their EV offerings and rethink vehicle design.

Watch a tour of a battery manufacturing gigafactory

Inside Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited's facility, China's largest EV battery manufacturer uses slurry mixing, "jelly rolling," electrolyte injection, and other techniques and equipment to transform raw metals such as lithium and magnesium into approximately 2.2 million electrochemical cells daily.

Tesla open-sourced all its patents to speed up industry adoption of electric vehicles

The company employed a disruptive strategy to transform the transportation market, but early struggles, including leadership shifts and near bankruptcy in 2008, threatened its efforts to bring electric vehicles to the mainstream.

California startup Rivian has attracted disillusioned Tesla owners

Some electric vehicle buyers frustrated by Elon Musk's antics have been won over by the adventure-focused company, which has received a $5B investment from the Volkswagen Group to develop crossover and hatchback models with solid-state batteries.

Take a drone tour of a Tesla factory

The first of Tesla's large-scale European manufacturing plants for its electric vehicles was opened in Berlin in 2022. It—along with other facilities in Nevada, New York, Texas, and Shanghai—collectively manufactures solar panels, batteries, and other energy collection and storage products.

As of 2025, most EV batteries retain 95% or more of their range after three years

Data from over 30,000 electric vehicles shows that their batteries are lasting much longer than initially projected, which researchers suggest is due to improved battery management systems and real-world use often being less rigorous than high-performance testing. Cars with 150,000 miles or more that have not had a battery replacement retain at least 83% of their original range.

In 2025, almost 90% of global shipments of humanoid robots came from Chinese companies, led by Unitree and AgiBot, with over 5,000 units each.

US EV sales grew from 1.4 million vehicles in 2023, to 1.7 million in 2024

California, Florida and Texas have the highest number of electric vehicle registrations in the US, while Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia have the lowest. Charging station infrastructure, high costs, and range anxiety contribute to lower adoption rates.

At its peak in 2001, the Toyota Prius made up 77% of the US hybrid vehicle market

Celebrities and early adopters popularized the model, making it a cultural symbol for eco-conscious driving and fuel efficiency. The rise of fully electric vehicles, like Tesla's Model 3, caused the Prius to lose the spotlight.

Hydrogen vehicle adoption has struggled due to high costs and stiff EV competition

Despite features like fast refueling and zero emissions, hydrogen vehicles face significant hurdles in affordability and infrastructure. As of 2025, there are about 200,000 electric vehicle charging stations compared to fewer than 100 hydrogen fuel ones.

Charging an EV depends on power source, charger type and battery size

It takes less time to charge an electric vehicle's battery for Level 3 chargers, which can deliver 80% capacity in as little as 30 minutes. Level 1 chargers can take days. Larger vehicles possess larger batteries that increase charging time, despite often having less range.

High fuel prices and fuel shortages revived dormant interest in EVs

Electric vehicles, in the form of motorized carriages, predate the invention of the gas-powered automobile by over 40 years. The latter's affordability made it more popular until technological advances made EVs more viable to consumers in the early 2000s.

China is the world’s largest importer of crude oil

China is pushing to reduce its reliance on US oil to limit geopolitical vulnerabilities. It’s rapidly becoming the world’s renewable energy superpower.

Nearly 40% of American cars were electric in 1899

They were most common in cities, where battery swap stations allowed drivers to "refuel" their vehicles reliably. Innovations in combustion engines caused electric cars to lose ground until environmental policies and advances in battery technology revitalized interest.

Tesla short sellers benefited from the company's poor performance in 2025

Tesla was widely considered the most-shorted stock until 2024, despite consistent short-seller losses. Between 2016 and 2020, short sellers reportedly lost more than $11B as Tesla's stock price continued climbing. However, long-held short positions began paying out in 2025 as Musk's foray into politics and his eventual feud with President Trump hurt Tesla's stock performance. In 2025, Tesla short sellers made more than $10B.

Electric vehicles have been around since the 19th century

The first EVs ran on rechargeable lead-acid batteries, which could travel 60 to 80 miles on a single charge. Women preferred these vehicles, which were quieter, less smelly, and did not require turning a hand crank to start the engine.

Growing EV adoption requires battery management infrastructure

Despite rechargeable batteries' limited life cycle, companies like Spiers New Technologies have developed methods to repair, refurbish, repurpose and recycle these components to minimize environmental waste, lower demand for new critical minerals, and increase electric vehicle lifetimes.

As of 2025, China used the most electricity of any country, accounting for 33% of the total global demand and more than twice that of the US.

Listen to an interview with Tencent's chief financial officer Arthur Wang to hear how the company is leveraging to AI to stay ahead of the technological curve.

Tesla plans to eliminate the use of rare earth elements in future vehicles

At a 2023 Investor Day event, Elon Musk outlined steps to focus Tesla's efforts on climate action rather than new vehicle models. Musk estimates the transition to carbon-free, sustainable energy will cost $10T.

As of 2024, 13 states have plans to phase out gas-powered cars

In 2022, California adopted the Advanced Clean Cars II Act, which requires all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold to produce zero emissions by 2035. Other states adopted similar laws, joining more than 50 countries with phaseout plans.

Despite electric usage concerns, EV charging accounts for less than 1% of grid load

Other popular myths about EVs include battery failure concerns—failure rates are less than 1% on newer models—and that there are no places to charge cars, though both at-home outlets and more than 77,000 stations on the road are available.

A pair of engineers began Tesla to prove the viability of electric vehicles

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning sought to design a high-end electric sports car for environmentally motivated, affluent buyers. The Tesla Roadster would be the first highway-legal car to use lithium-ion batteries.

Battery and plug-in hybrid EVs can operate with zero tailpipe emissions

Battery electric vehicles only run on electricity, while plug-in hybrids incorporate a small internal combustion engine that recharges the battery or directly powers the wheels to improve driving range. Fuel cell electric vehicles convert hydrogen gas fuel into electricity.

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

The average electric vehicle motor has about 20 moving parts

The simpler design significantly reduces the energy lost to heat compared to the approximately 2,000 parts in a gas-powered car. Pollution is also lower, though an EV's emission profile is only as clean as the electric utility it's plugged into.

Self-driving vehicles have the potential to cut ride costs by 40-50% and eliminate thousands of road deaths

Author Andrew Miller argues that widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles is no longer a distant promise, as Waymo expands into over 15 cities. However, he warns the technology's biggest remaining hurdles are political: liability, labor, and whether cities embrace or resist the shift.

Elon Musk joined Tesla in 2004, investing $30M and becoming chair

The company went public in 2010, raising $226 million in its IPO just two years after beginning production on its first car. Tesla's first Supercharger stations were launched in 2012 with six locations in California.

In 2023, self-driving cars drove 3.3 million miles on California's roads

According to the state's DMV, the mileage represented a fivefold increase from the previous year. General Motors' Cruise and Alphabet's Waymo accounted for the bulk of miles, though 38 companies have received permits to test autonomous vehicles in the state.

Explore the human and environmental resources needed to make an electric vehicle

The minerals needed to build batteries for electric vehicles are expensive and often take a human toll paid by the communities where they are mined. This interactive article details what minerals make up an electric vehicle battery, where they come from, and dangers posed by the mining process.

From 1991 to 2024, lithium-ion battery cell prices have fallen by 99%

The decrease from about $10,000 to $50 per kilowatt-hour has been driven by innovations in battery chemistry, improvements in manufacturing and supply chains, and increases in global cumulative production, which have caused average price declines of 19% each time it has doubled.

DeepSeek is a Chinese AI startup that rattled US competitors when it made an AI model much faster and cheaper than they did

DeepSeek unveiled an AI model in 2025 that it said was made in two months for roughly $6M. For context, OpenAI has suggested it took over $100M to make its AI model GPT-4. The news rattled the stocks of American tech companies, including leading chipmaker Nvidia.

Owned by Tencent, WeBank was China's first digital bank and services 340 million customers.

As of 2025, self-driving cars continue to be unavailable to consumers

These vehicles rely on radar, cameras, lidar, and advanced AI to process data and make real-time driving decisions. Companies like Waymo and Mercedes-Benz are testing autonomous cars on public roads, but challenges remain, including technical reliability issues, regulatory hurdles, and a lack of consumer trust.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

View the five most expensive metals used to make batteries

Before 2021, when lithium carbonate became the most expensive metal for use in electric vehicle cathodes, cobalt was the most costly battery metal. Of the top five, copper is the only metal not used in cathodes, arguably the most important part of the battery, which determines performance, longevity, and range.

Self-driving car companies like Waymo use LiDAR technology for navigation, which constructs 3D maps of a car's surroundings by emitting light pulses in all directions.

Since its 2019 reveal, the Cybertruck underwent numerous delays and design changes

Elon Musk first envisioned the Cybertruck in 2012, with its design inspired by "Blade Runner" and "The Spy Who Loved Me." Semiconductor shortages and battery manufacturing issues made it impossible to manufacture enough vehicles to meet the 250,000 preorders without shifting delivery dates.

Bluesky is gaining momentum by offering users full control over their experience

Controversial changes made by Elon Musk to X have inspired an exodus from that platform and growth in Bluesky. The latter's open-source model gives users customizable feeds, portability between services, and a "billionaire-proof" design that prevents corporate takeover.

Watch a timeline of Tencent—one of China's earliest tech giants—despite the company's low profile.

Explore a gallery of electric vehicles from before 1920

In 1884, Thomas Parker invented the first practical electric car in London. By the turn of the century, early EVs were seen on the streets of Washington, DC. Automaker promotional materials included photographs of cars on mountain roads and other terrains.

The Volkswagen bus returns to the US market after 20 years

Volkswagen will start selling battery-powered versions of its VW bus in North America from 2024 onwards, a reintroduction of the iconic vehicle after a roughly two decade-long hiatus. See the revamped bus here.

Why the $25K car is going extinct

The share of overall new auto sales under $25k was 4.8% in February 2025, according to the automotive pricing source Edmunds. That's down from 23% during the same month in 2019.

How TSMC, the world's biggest chip manufacturer, makes money

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has more than 500 clients across the world, but none are bigger or more consequential to its business than Apple. The iPhone maker accounts for 25% of TSMC's total revenue. TSMC controls more than 60% of the global market share in semiconductor manufacturing. Dive into the economics and outlook of this important company here.