BYD respects Tesla and we admire Tesla,” he said in an interview on Chinese state media. Yet just three years later, Tesla’s technological lead over its Chinese rivals has narrowed dramatically.

BEIJING, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China's electric vehicle giant BYD (002594.SZ) said it will launch a new generation of blade batteries in 2025, Chinese state media CGTN reported on Saturday.

BYD's overall vehicle sales dwarfed Tesla's last year. The Warren Buffett-backed electric vehicle giant sold 4.27 million vehicles in 2024, compared with Tesla's 1.78 million.

BYD sold 525,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) during that period, compared with Tesla’s 484,507. In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022.

BYD reported it made just over 4.3 million “new energy vehicles” last year, up 41% from a year earlier, including 1.8 million battery electric vehicles and 2.5 million plug in hybrids.

BYD, a battery manufacturer that began making cars in 2003, was no exception. For years, its cars were notorious in China as clunkers. Those days are long gone.