How did the Chinese automaker become such a dominant force in the EV industry? And, perhaps more importantly, can it stay that way?
Illustration by Luis Grañena
If you had to pinpoint the moment the global automotive landscape shifted, when its center of gravity settled on China for the first time, a good guess would be March 29, 2020 — the day the Chinese automaker BYD Auto introduced its Blade battery.
Given the timing — in the early and chaotic days of the pandemic — not many observers took full stock of the Blade. And something as technical as a more efficient battery design could hardly compete with the subsequent headlines about the larger automotive industry’s many pandemic crises — crippling semiconductor shortages, for instance, and lithium price spikes.
But as the pandemic dragged on and none of these various supply chain snarls touched BYD, the full weight of BYD’s accomplishments slowly came into focus. BYD went on to debut its flagship vehicle, the Han, four months after the Blade. And then, just as every other automaker seemed paralyzed waiting for parts, BYD started spitting out cars.
Source: BYD
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