The competition between Tesla and BYD has entered a "close combat", who will have the last laugh?

According to foreign media reports, Tesla has surpassed BYD to become the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer in terms of cumulative sales. Even if BYD's plug-in hybrid vehicle sales are included, Tesla's electric vehicle sales still exceed the former. Data expert Kevin Rooke has drawn a cumulative sales chart of Tesla and BYD over the years. The data collected by Rooke shows that as of October 2019, Tesla has delivered 807,954 electric vehicles, while BYD has delivered 787,150 vehicles so far.

Tesla has become the leader in the global electric vehicle market and a hot commodity in the media. Tesla also has another strong competitor: China's BYD. According to the latest news from foreign media, Tesla has surpassed BYD in terms of cumulative sales (even including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) to become the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer.

According to foreign media reports, just a few years ago, many people did not believe that Tesla could produce any meaningful electric vehicles, and believed that it was an impossible task for Musk to build an electric car with the same high performance as a fuel car. In the end, Tesla gradually launched three models, namely the luxury electric car Model X, Model S, and the more affordable mass-market electric car Model 3.

During these product upgrades, Tesla has been competing fiercely with BYD, China's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, in terms of electric vehicle delivery. Previously, BYD received investment from American stock god Buffett, which subsequently attracted great attention from the global electric vehicle industry and technology media. Similar to Tesla, BYD has gone beyond the Chinese market and sold electric vehicles, especially electric buses, around the world. BYD has also set up overseas manufacturing plants in the United States and other places.

When asked what he thought of the Chinese automaker's electric cars after Buffett invested in BYD, the Tesla CEO just laughed it off, seemingly not seeing BYD as a force or threat.

However, BYD continues to produce cars at an impressive pace, while Tesla has begun to increase its electric vehicle models. In the third quarter of this year, Tesla completed a record number of electric vehicle deliveries, with the number approaching 100,000. Combined with October's sales, Tesla has finally surpassed BYD in cumulative electric vehicle sales after years of following BYD.

According to the cumulative sales curve drawn by data expert Kevin Rooke, Tesla's electric vehicle sales actually exceeded BYD's before 2016. However, at that time, the global electric vehicle market was still in its infancy and still a niche market, and the cumulative sales of the two companies were only about 100,000 vehicles.

According to Rucker, as of October 2019, Tesla has delivered a total of 807,954 electric vehicles, while BYD has delivered 787,150 vehicles to date.

It should be noted that BYD's total sales also include plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), while Tesla only produces pure electric vehicles.

Rooker noted that BYD's sales of plug-in hybrids have been declining over the past five years, while pure electric vehicle sales have increased:

BYD has also been making electric trucks and buses, as well as producing its own batteries for electric vehicles.

Nowadays, electric cars generally refer to "pure electric cars". Tesla's great success in developing pure electric cars has set off an "electrification revolution" in the global automobile market and technology industry. Many start-ups are trying to overtake them, while many traditional auto giants are starting to abandon plug-in hybrid or gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles and turn to pure electric vehicles.

Pure electric vehicles completely abandon complex mechanical structures such as internal combustion engines and gearboxes, and only require one or several electric motors, battery packs and auxiliary equipment. The structure is simpler and the control is more flexible. Pure electrification and autonomous driving have become the latest development direction of the electric vehicle or automobile industry.

There are some differences between Tesla and BYD. So far, Tesla has mainly focused on electric sedans and SUVs. However, Tesla is ready to embark on the track of diversification of models.

Previously, Tesla has released electric trucks, electric pickups and Model 3's sister model (SUV) Model Y. However, Tesla's production capacity is relatively tight, and it is still unknown when these new models can start mass production and when they can begin delivery.

In terms of internationalization, Tesla is ahead of BYD. Tesla has built a sales and service network covering Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America, and has also built supporting charging station facilities. Tesla's electric car factory in Shanghai, China has been completed and put into production, and is expected to be delivered to Chinese pre-orderers early next year. In addition, Tesla's head Musk recently announced that he will build a second overseas factory in Berlin, Germany, to supply the European market at a close distance.

Foreign media also pointed out that with Tesla launching the domestic production of Model 3 in China, the competition between Tesla and BYD will enter a more interesting "close combat" stage.