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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 1m
𝗕𝗬𝗗 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮 - 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: • Sold 4 Million EVs in 2024 (Twice that of Tesla) • Tesla, Ford, and Toyota fight over its batteries • Warren Buffett invested $232M for a 10% stake How China quietly built BYD into the world's biggest EV empire: 𝗘𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗸 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗬𝗗—𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮 In 2008, Elon Musk laughed at the idea of BYD competing with Tesla. Now, Tesla is slashing prices because BYD is forcing their hand. The man behind this? A chemist you've probably never heard of—Wang Chuanfu. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 $𝟮𝟵 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 In 1995, Wang Chuanfu started BYD as a battery company for Nokia phones. By 2003, with zero car experience, he bought a failing automaker. People laughed—until Warren Buffett bet $232M on him. Meanwhile, China had a problem. The country was set to become the world’s largest oil importer. The government saw an opening: skip gas cars entirely and dominate EVs instead. Between 2009-2022, China poured $29 billion into EV development. But money wasn’t enough—they needed control. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗩 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 Batteries make up 40% of an EV’s cost, so China took control of the supply chain: 100% of the world’s graphite refining 75% of cobalt refining 60% of lithium refining Even if other countries mine the materials, China refines them. They also gave BYD a massive head start—Shenzhen converted 16,000 buses to BYD electric models overnight. Then came the Blade Battery. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮 In 2020, BYD’s Blade Battery passed the "nail penetration test." Other EV batteries exploded. BYD’s? Nothing happened. It was cheaper, safer, and faster-charging than anything else. Even Tesla had to buy it. 𝗕𝗬𝗗 𝘃𝘀. 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 BYD doesn’t just make cars. They: • Mine their own lithium • Refine their own materials • Make their own chips • Build their own batteries The result? A $11,500 EV vs. Tesla’s cheapest car at 4x the price. Now, in 2024, BYD overtook Volkswagen as China’s #1 car brand. Tesla chased margins. BYD played the volume game—and won. Follow Vishu Bheda for more valuable startup and business insights.
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