BYD America boss explains Chinese EV makers edge as it expands overseas
BYD, or “Build Your Dreams,” is unlike many auto manufacturers, which is part of the reason behind its success. As the EV maker expands overseas, BYD America CEO Stella Li believes the company has an advantage.
BYD brings affordable EVs to North America
At the launch of BYD’s affordable Dolphin electric hatchback in Brazil, MotorTrend caught up with Li to discuss Chinese EVs and expanding overseas.
“A Chinese car wants to give them extra value in the interior design, extra value on innovation, and high tech,” Li explained when asked how overseas buyers will see Chinese electric cars.
Li gave the example of BYD’s Dolphin. BYD launched the Dolphin EV in Mexico last week, starting at MXN 539,990 ($31,000). The Dolphin is BYD’s fourth all-electric model in the region, joining the Han sedan, Tang SUV, and Yuan Plus electric SUV introduced in June.
Powered by a 70 kW electric motor and 44.9 kWh BYD Blade Battery, the Dolphin offers “class-leading efficiency” of 11 kWh / 100 km.
Despite the affordable price tag, “when you open the door, it’s not cheap,” Li said. The Dolphin has “premium and high-tech” features like voice control to open windows and digital key entry. It even includes karaoke and video games.
Advantages of expanding overseas
Even though BYD does not sell its electric cars in the US (though they do sell electric buses), you may already own some of its products. BYD’s history has helped propel it into the future.
BYD began as a battery company, later venturing into cell phone assembly. The company is now the largest global supplier of rechargeable batteries. As Li explained, “Today, one-third of the smartphone components, all the final phone assembly, all the R&D and design are done by BYD; 20 percent of global phone components are produced by BYD.”
The company also outsources its batteries to other automakers, including Tesla, Toyota, Kia, and others.
As such, BYD is “more like an engineering company,” with 10% of staff being engineers and 11 patents per day being produced.
BYD has transformed into a heavily integrated company. The automaker has specific divisions for every component, like telematics assembly and air conditioners. This has enabled all components in BYD’s Dolphin, except the tires and windows, to be made entirely in-house.
The integration solves many problems that traditional automakers are facing while going electric. If cross-functionality is needed, you can get them together under one roof rather than dealing with third parties. It also can help avoid supply chain disruptions.
Perhaps most importantly, BYD can crank out new models and technology much quicker than rivals by producing its own components.
The average automaker takes around four years to develop a new car from scratch to a finished project. At BYD, it’s 18 months.
When compared to Vietnamese EV maker VinFast in that regard, Li said, “The advantage we have [is that the] Chinese market is a very competitive market.”
The CEO explained, “China is the toughest market, but we are the winner. We use this as a platform for our globalization plan.” Adding, “Every car we bring overseas, we are the winner. We beat every competitor in the Chinese market, which is the toughest market.”
Electrek’s Take
BYD is rapidly expanding in China and abroad with a wide selection of EVs, from affordable to luxury. But its most significant advantage lies in its engineering and tech capabilities.
By producing nearly every component in the Dolphin and other electric cars, BYD can build, ship, update, and more to ensure it’s putting out a competitive product at an affordable price. The 500,000th Dolphin rolled off the assembly line last week as the low-cost electric hatchback gains momentum overseas.
BYD’s profits more than doubled to nearly $1 billion in the second quarter as deliveries surged to a new record.
The Chinese EV maker dethroned Volkswagen as the top automaker in China earlier this year and is looking to carry the momentum into international markets.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles
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Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!
An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.
Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.
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