BYD Just Buried Tesla
Tesla has officially lost its technology lead.
There have been many “Tesla killer” cars over the years, yet none have challenged Tesla’s market dominance. But that is about the change. Earlier this year, BYD overtook Tesla as the best-selling EV maker. It’s no wonder their brilliant EVs go toe-to-toe with Tesla. However, BYD has just announced an update to their incredible Model 3 competitor, the Seal. While these updates might seem slight on the surface, they actually blow Tesla out of the water and signal that BYD will bury Tesla in years to come.
So, what updates has the Seal got? Well, it has switched from a 400V architecture to an 800V one, which has dramatically slashed its charge time. The Seal uses LFP cells, which charge slower than the typical Lithium-ion cells, hence why the current version charges from 10% to 80% in 37 minutes, or about 10 minutes slower than the equivalent Tesla. However, cells’ charging speed is limited by the amount of current they can take, so increasing the voltage is a smart way to make the pack charge more quickly. As such, the new Seal charges from 10% to 80% in only 25 minutes, the exact same as the Model 3.
However, this upgrade hasn’t increased the price. The top-of-the-range new Seal will cost the equivalent of $33,460 in China, with the base model costing the equivalent of $24,500…