The electric vehicle rivalry between Tesla and BYD is heating up. Both brands have grown much faster than their competitors and have made a difference in sales. However, there is confusion about who is the market leader.

Although some sources tout BYD as the new leader of the electric vehicle world, Elon Musk’s company is still the clear sales champion. According to data released over the weekend, Tesla sold 889,015 fully electric vehicles in the first half of 2023. In BYD, this number was announced as 616,810.

The reason for the confusion is that BYD stopped selling gasoline/diesel and hybrid vehicles last year. For this reason, it is assumed that all sales are electrified. However, the company, which achieved 1.2 million sales in the first six months of 2023, uses an all-electric system in half of its vehicles, while the other half includes a plug-in hybrid, that is, a power group with an internal combustion engine. Some sources’ evaluation of plug-in hybrid vehicles in the electric vehicle class is causing leader confusion.

Although Tesla seems leader for now, it doesn’t seem like it will take long for BYD to catch up with him. The Chinese giant, whose 2023 target is to sell 3 million vehicles, will be closer than ever to Tesla’s expected sales volume of 2 million with sales of approximately 1.5 million fully electric vehicles.

The change of leadership is considered certain to take place in 2024. In order for Tesla to become the leader again, it needs to make the Model 2, which will be priced at around $25,000, ready for mass production as soon as possible.