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Stocks of China’s electric vehicle champion touched on new records on Tuesday. Founder Wang Chuanghu argued that Tesla rivals could claim an EV as quickly as possible to fill the car with gasoline.
BYD’s shares jumped to Hong Kong dollars 408.80 ($52.62) over more than 6% per share in early Hong Kong trading, earning nearly 85% over the past 12 months.
Wang, the founder of the company’s billionaire, said Monday that the new charging system for BYD’s own EV battery from Shenzhen Group can add a range of about 470km in five minutes.
This claim means that BYD has fine-tuned rivals such as Tesla and Mercedes-Benz in fast charging technology, but the new system is subject to several prerequisites, including adequate voltage at the charging station.
There is growing competition between EVs and battery manufacturers to deploy faster charging infrastructure. This helps to address consumer anxiety with operating range and charging speed compared to traditional internal combustion engines.
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BYD will initially install around 4,000 chargers to support new fast charging technology.
China has acquired around 460,000 new public EV chargers this year, accounting for around two-thirds of the world, bringing cumulative units to around 2.1 million, according to Chris Liu, a senior analyst based in Consultancy Omdia.
BYD added that two of the two sports utility models, priced under $40,000 in China, will be equipped with a new ultra-fast charging system starting in April.
BYD’s latest stock bump, which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a key investor, will be installed across the entire lineup of new cars a month after the release of a free, sophisticated autonomous driving system called God’s Eye.
The move puts more pressure on domestic rivals Clutch, as well as Elon Musk’s Tesla and German Volkswagen.
For the first two months of 2025, BYD boasted about 27% of China’s EV production and boasts more than 405,000 cars, according to data from Shanghai consultant Automobility. There is an 18% share of the pure battery EV segment and 56% of the plug-in hybrid segment.
BYD, which is rapidly expanding worldwide through new factories in Southeastern and Central Asia, Europe and South America, accounts for around 16% of the over 900,000 cars exported from China in January and February.
Additional Reports by William Sandland and Gloria Lee of Hong Kong
