Those reporting BYD overtook Tesla as top global electric vehicle maker are wrong
In the past few weeks, major news outlets have reported that Chinese automotive giant BYD has overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles. While it may be true that BYD has usurped Tesla to sell more electric vehicles or generate more revenue, the idea that either is the largest EV seller in the world completely ignores a company that sells more EVs each year than both Tesla and BYD combined.
Those EVs just have half the wheels.
I’m talking, of course, about the real global leader in electric vehicle sales: Yadea, a company that builds electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, outselling by a long shot Tesla and BYD combined.
Of course part of this argument is semantical, and it also depends on how you definite the world’s largest seller. Many recent articles about BYD overtaking Tesla refer to BYD’s 2024 annual revenue, which eclipsed Tesla’s for the same period. To be fair, that feat is even more impressive considering Tesla enjoys a relatively large sales volume in BYD’s domestic market of China, whereas BYD is prevented from selling in Tesla’s domestic market of the US, one of the largest global automotive markets.
While Yadea can’t compete with overall revenue due to its vehicles being much more affordable, that’s kind of the point. Yadea sells as many EVs in a quarter as Tesla and BYD do in a year, and for much more affordable prices.
In fact, Yadea’s recent announcement of surpassing 100 million cumulative electric two-wheelers sold globally puts both automakers’ figures in perspective. On an annual basis, Yadea consistently sells more than 6-8 million electric scooters, bicycles, and motorcycles, comfortably surpassing the combined annual sales of Tesla and BYD.
Why, then, does the media often ignore Yadea when crowning the king of EV sales? Simply put, there’s still an automotive bias that sees cars as “real” vehicles and treats two-wheelers as a side note. It’s understandable, and even my own well-meaning colleagues here at Electrek can occasionally be guilty of it. But this attitude misses an essential point: For millions of people worldwide, especially in densely populated urban centers throughout Asia and increasingly in Europe and North America, an electric scooter or bicycle isn’t just a real vehicle – it’s often the most sensible, efficient, and affordable choice.
Two-wheeled electric vehicles offer numerous practical advantages over cars. They’re dramatically more energy-efficient, cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, easier to maintain, and fit seamlessly into urban lifestyles where space is limited and traffic congestion is the norm. Electric scooters and bikes aren’t just vehicles; they’re solutions to pressing urban issues like air pollution, traffic congestion, and affordability. Most young urban commuters can’t afford a new Tesla, nor can they charge its battery in the living room of their fifth-floor apartment. But a typical e-bike or e-scooter solves both of those problems, bringing affordability and convenience to the electric vehicle market.
Moreover, Yadea reaching the incredible milestone of 100 million electric vehicle sales highlights the sheer scale and impact of electric two-wheelers globally. And that’s just one company. For comparison, Tesla recently celebrated surpassing just over 7 million total vehicles, and BYD, despite its rapid growth, is still far behind Yadea in cumulative units delivered.
The takeaway here is clear: Let’s not get caught up in automotive tunnel vision. If we truly care about electrification and sustainability, it’s vital to recognize that the global electric vehicle market is bigger – and more diverse – than cars alone. Companies like Yadea aren’t just quietly outselling Tesla and BYD; they’re providing practical mobility solutions that might just be the “better” electric vehicles that millions of people actually need.
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Tesla has settled another wrongful death lawsuit, and it has significant implications based on Tesla’s legal strategy of not settling unless it is at fault.
Admitting a mistake is difficult. We humans are not good at it, which is why I respected Elon Musk when he said that Tesla wouldn’t seek victory in “just” legal cases against it and would “never settle an unjust case” against the company:
We will never seek victory in a just case against us, even if we will probably win. – We will never surrender/settle an unjust case against us, even if we will probably lose..
This strategy also means that if Tesla ever settles a case, it is admitting that it was in the wrong, even if settlements often come with no admission of wrongdoing.
Tesla has very rarely settled cases and Musk made this comment back in 2022. A lot has changed since then.
In fact, around the same time Musk made that comment, he announced that he was building a team of “hardcore lawyers” at Tesla to pursue legal cases aggressively.
But it started to happen over the last few years.
In the UK, a Tesla owner challenged Tesla over its failure to deliver on its full self-driving claims and won a settlement that represented a refund of his purchase cost for FSD, with interest, after filing a claim in small claims court in 2023.
Last year, Tesla also finally settled a wrongful death lawsuit regarding the death of Model X owner Walter Huang, who was one of the first Tesla owners to die while using Autopilot back in 2018.
Now, Tesla has settled a second wrongful death lawsuit.
The estate of Clyde Leach, a Tesla Model Y owner, sued Tesla for wrongful death after his Model Y “suddenly accelerated, went off the road, and slammed into a pillar at an Ohio gas station.” Leach, 72, died from “blunt force trauma, burns, and other injuries” after the vehicle burned down following the impact.
Unlike Huang’s case, the lawsuit didn’t focus specifically on Tesla’s Autopilot or other ADAS features, but it claimed that a defect led to a “sudden acceleration” that contributed to the crash.
There have been numerous allegations of “sudden unintended acceleration” against Tesla vehicles, but in most cases, the evidence has pointed to the driver mistakenly pressing the wrong pedal.
This makes it particularly interesting that Tesla, which claims never to settle unjust claims against the company, has confirmed that it settled the case with Leach’s estate in a filing on Monday in federal court in San Francisco.
The terms of the settlement have not been released.
Electrek’s Take
In Tesla’s early days, there were numerous claims of “sudden unintended acceleration” regarding Tesla vehicles. I would often look into them, and we even had third parties review the telemetric logs; you could almost always prove pedal misplacement.
I assumed some of it also had to do with people not being used to vehicles that accelerate as quickly as Teslas, leading to less forgiving situations when pressing the wrong pedal.
However, considering Tesla settled this case and Musk’s claim that Tesla would not settle an “unjust” claim, there could be a case that sudden acceleration could occur with Tesla vehicles.
This could complicate a lot of other cases against Tesla.
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Despite the will-they, won’t-they uncertainty surrounding the future of tariffs and union jobs and – let’s face it – just about everything else in every industry these days, GM says it has no plans to move production of its Ultium-based EVs from Mexico to the US.
GM has exclusively produced electric cars at its plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico since last year, and has created some 5,000 new jobs in the area according to economist Raquel Buenrostro, who currently serves as Mexico’s Secretary of Anti-Corruption and Good Government. And those cars – including the popular Chevy Equinox EV and Honda’s hot-selling Prologue – have been huge hits in their respective segments.
The General seems to know a good thing when it sees one, so it should come as no surprise to learn that GM has no plans to scuttle its assembly lines out of the country.
“At this time, GM has no plans to halt or relocate production of any of our EV models made in Mexico,” the director of GM de México’s EV operations, Adrián Enciso, told the Spanish-language newspaper, Milenio. “It’s possible that additional models, such as (the new 2026 Chevy Spark) could be built here, too.”
Market Watch is reporting that the proposed tariffs, if they take effect, could raise GM’s cost to make electric cars in Mexico by up to $4,300 per vehicle. But while that could put a significant per-unit dent in GM’s profits, it’s worth noting that the EVs might continue to be built in Mexico and sold in Canada and other markets – the new Spark, especially, is targeted towards Central and South America, anyway.
And, frankly, GM can afford it.
SOURCE: Mexico News Daily.
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The mining equipment experts at Epiroc will supply a fleet of autonomous, zero-emission electric Pit Viper 271E and SmartROC D65 BE drill rigs at a number of Australian mines operated by multinational metals firm, Fortescue.
The $350 million AUD (approx. $225 million US) deal will see Epiroc AB supply its customer, Fortescue, with a number of blast hole drill rigs powered by either a cable connection to grid energy or, for more remote sites, batteries.
Fortescue will put the rigs to work at its iron ore mines in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. The driverless machines will eventually be operated fully autonomously, overseen by remote operators at Fortescue’s Integrated Operations Centre in Perth – more than 1,500 km away!
Epiroc says the machines will eliminate around 35 million liters of diesel consumption annually, according to Fortescue.
“Fortescue is at the forefront of the mining industry in reducing emissions from operations, and in using automation to strengthen safety and productivity, and we are proud to support them on this important effort,” says Epiroc President Helena Hedblom. “Not only is this the largest contract we have ever received, but it is also a major step forward for our electric-powered surface equipment. We look forward to contributing to Fortescue’s continued success now and in the future.”
The Pit Viper 271 E rotary blast hole drill rig that offers the same levels of performance that the diesel Pit Viper line is acclaimed for. Its patented cable feed system that prolongs component longevity and reduces operational costs. The SmartROC D65 BE is a new, battery-electric version of the proven SmartROC D65 drill rig. They’re manufactured in Texas and Sweden, respectively.
Fortescue has been a pioneer in the electrification of the mining industry, whether it’s converting its massive Liebherr excavators to electric, funding the development of 6MW EV chargers, or deploying autonomous electric drill rigs like these in their mines – they’re well on their way to achieving their goal of carbon neutral operations by 2030.
Electrek’s Take
From drilling and rigging to heavy haul solutions, companies like Fortescue and Epiroc are proving that electric equipment is more than up to the task of moving dirt and pulling stuff out of the ground. At the same time, rising demand for nickel, lithium, and phosphates combined with the natural benefits of electrification are driving the adoption of electric mining machines while a persistent operator shortage is boosting demand for autonomous tech in those machines.
We covered the market outlook for autonomous and electric mining equipment earlier this summer, and I posted an episode exploring the growing demand for electric equipment on an episode of Quick Charge I’ve embedded, below. Check it out, then let us know what you think of the future of electric mining in the comments.
More EVs means more mines
SOURCE | IMAGES: Epiroc.
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