Tesla vs BYD: who really sells more electric cars?
Headlines say BYD sells almost three times as many electric cars as Tesla. That counts plug-in hybrids and buses. Counting fully electric cars only, BYD did overtake Tesla, but later and by less.
By Whatco · Tesla delivery releases and SEC filings; BYD monthly sales announcements and annual reports (HKEX, SZSE)
2.26M vs 1.64Mfully electric cars sold by BYD and Tesla in 2025
7 of 11quarters since 2024 in which BYD sold more fully electric cars than Tesla
1.05Mcars BYD sold outside China in 2025, four times its 2023 total
Two ways to count
BYD reports “new energy vehicles”: 4,602,436 in 2025. That number has three parts: 2,256,714 fully electric passenger cars, 2,288,709 plug-in hybrids, and 57,013 buses and trucks. Tesla sells only fully electric cars and delivered 1,636,129 in 2025.
So the fair comparison is BYD's fully electric passenger cars against Tesla's deliveries. On that basis Tesla was still ahead in 2023 and, by just 24,000 cars, in 2024. In 2025 BYD pulled clearly ahead.
Tesla deliveries and BYD sales by type
Tesla BYD battery-electric BYD plug-in hybrid BYD buses and trucks
Calendar years. Tesla: vehicles delivered to customers, all battery-electric. BYD: sales volume from its monthly announcements (unaudited), split into battery-electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
Quarter by quarter
Tesla led the first three quarters of 2024. BYD took over in the fourth quarter of 2024 and led every quarter of 2025. Tesla came back on top in the first quarter of 2026 (358,023 against 310,389), then BYD opened its widest gap yet: 762,478 fully electric cars in the third quarter of 2026 against Tesla's 486,532.
Fully electric cars per quarter
Tesla deliveries BYD battery-electric passenger cars
BYD quarters are the sum of its three monthly announcements (our calculation); Tesla quarters as reported in its delivery releases.
Growth has stalled for both
Tesla's deliveries fell two years in a row, from 1.81 million in 2023 to 1.64 million in 2025. In the first nine months of 2026 they recovered to 1,324,681, up 8.8% on the same period of 2025. BYD's fully electric sales grew only 1.5% over the same nine months, while its plug-in hybrids fell 10.2% and its total new-energy sales fell 3.9%.
Who makes more on each car
Both companies keep roughly a fifth of car revenue as gross profit. Tesla's automotive gross margin slipped from 19.4% in 2023 to 17.8% in 2025 and was 18.7% in the first nine months of 2026. BYD's segment margin went from 23.0% to 20.5% and was 22.3% in the first half of 2026.
Automotive gross margin
Tesla: gross margin of total automotive (sales, regulatory credits, leasing), 2026 = first nine months. BYD: gross margin of its segment “automobiles, related products and other products”, which also includes products other than cars, 2026 = first half. Scopes differ, so read this as a rough comparison.
Different bets
BYD makes much of its car itself: the Blade battery, power chips, and since May 2026 its own 4-nanometre driver-assistance chip. It is building factories abroad: Thailand started production in July 2024, Uzbekistan in June 2024 and Brazil in July 2025, and a plant in Hungary is under construction. Overseas sales reached 1.05 million cars in 2025, and more than half of BYD's revenue came from outside China in the first half of 2026.
Tesla is betting on software and autonomy. It launched its Robotaxi service in June 2025 and started Cybercab rides in Austin in September 2026, while cheaper Standard versions of the Model 3 and Model Y arrived in October 2025 from $36,990. Tesla itself notes that its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software does not make a car autonomous.
The winner depends on what you measure
Most battery-electric cars, 2025BYD2,256,714 vs Tesla 1,636,129
Most plug-in cars of any kindBYD4.6M new-energy vehicles in 2025, almost three times Tesla
Biggest quarterBYDQ3 2026: 762,478 battery-electric cars vs Tesla 486,532
Faster growth in 2026 so farTeslaDeliveries +8.8% in the first nine months vs BYD battery-electric +1.5%
Higher automotive gross marginBYD22.3% in H1 2026 vs Tesla 18.7% for 9M 2026, on different scopes
Only electric, no hybridsTeslaEvery car it sells is battery-electric
How we counted. Tesla reports deliveries to customers. BYD reports sales volume in unaudited monthly announcements, and its annual reports give only rounded totals. We compare Tesla with BYD's battery-electric passenger cars, never with BYD's total new-energy vehicles. BYD changed its definition of overseas sales twice in 2025; the 2025 total is the sum of its monthly figures and matches the 1.05 million in its annual report.
Every company, explained from its own reports
Open Tesla or BYD in Whatco and put them side by side: who owns them, how they make money and the numbers that matter.
Toyota's hybrid bet: behind on EVs, or just careful?Coming soon
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EV growth vs profits: does going electric pay?Coming soon
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Who is winning the electric car race? It depends on what you measure.Coming soon
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