China's BYD Cemented Its Lead on Tesla in Five Minutes
Sometimes a chart is just a chart. Sometimes, when you're looking at Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. Ltd. in early 2025, it's a striking squiggly metaphor.
Tesla, the biggest US electric vehicle maker, has shocked the world this year with its overt politicization and slumping sales and stock price. BYD, its great Chinese rival, just shocked the world by announcing its newest model can recharge in five minutes. The symbolism, capturing the lead that China has taken in EVs compared with a US still fighting with itself about the relative wokeness of EVs, could hardly be clearer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lithium industry bemoans 'paradox' of low prices, rising demand
By Ernest Scheyder LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -An ongoing slide in lithium prices even as demand for the battery metal continues to climb is a frustrating "paradox" not likely to be resolved before at least 2030, the world's largest producers told a major industry conference this week. Once a niche metal used primarily in greases, ceramics and pharmaceuticals, lithium's use in electric vehicles, large-scale battery storage and other electronic applications has grown rapidly, with demand up 24% last year and likely to grow 12% annually for the next decade, according to data from consultancy Fastmarkets. Oversupply from China, however, has dragged prices down more than 90% in the past two years, fueling layoffs, corporate buyouts and project delays across the globe. "We've got market pain, but on the other side is the strategic gain. That is the lithium paradox," Dale Henderson, CEO of Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals, told the Fastmarkets Lithium and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas. One long-time conference attendee described the mood at this year's conference using the stages of grief as a metaphor. Last year's conference reflected denial, with the sentiment in 2025 one of acceptance, he said. Despite the price drop, attendance at the conference - considered the world's largest annual gathering of lithium investors, executives and consumers - fell only 9% from last year to roughly 1,000, according to organizers. "It's quite hard to imagine a future where lithium doesn't play a central role in the global economy," said Paul Lusty, head of battery raw materials research at Fastmarkets. Chinese miners have stockpiled supply that likely will only come down later this decade and lessen the market imbalance, he added. Others have seen an even longer timeframe. Project Blue, another minerals consultancy, does not expect lithium demand to exceed supply until 2033 at the earliest. "Lithium has no chill mode. It really is more volatile than a lot of other markets out there," said Peter Hannah, head of pricing at Albemarle, the world's largest lithium producer, which has cut staff and delayed expansion projects in response to the price drop. Much of the conference side chatter focused on efforts to curb spending, with various lithium projects - especially direct lithium extraction (DLE) projects - touting efforts to lower costs. "The issues with lithium are which mines can produce the highest quality product at the lowest cost," said Ken Hoffman, a commodity strategist with mining investment bank Red Cloud Securities. EnergyX, a DLE developer backed by General Motors, unveiled a study showing it could produce the metal in northern Chile with operating costs below $3,000 per metric ton. The estimates are preliminary, but underscore the industry's push to spend less. "Innovation is the solution to building a resilient battery supply chain," said Chris Doornbos, CEO of E3 Lithium, which is developing a DLE project in Alberta. Adding to the market tension, SQM - the world's second-largest lithium producer - laid off 5% of its workforce this week. "We do have other factors impacting the behavior of the market participants than just pure economics," Andres Fontannaz, commercial vice president of SQM's international lithium division, told the conference, a reference to how electric vehicles have become a political target in some countries. The tension is even higher for lithium projects under construction and hoping prices rise by the time they open. "This is a really tough industry to be in," said Jon Evans, CEO of Lithium Americas, which is building North America's largest lithium mine in Nevada. "It's periods of euphoria followed by periods of pain and suffering, which we're in now." Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
TechCrunch
18 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Elon Musk reportedly fires Tesla's top sales exec
Omead Afshar, Tesla's vice president in charge of sales and manufacturing in North America and Europe, has reportedly been fired by CEO Elon Musk, according to Forbes. It's not immediately known why Musk fired Afshar, who was one of his top lieutenants and closest confidants at the company. Afshar, Musk, and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Afshar's departure was first reported by Bloomberg News. Afshar was posting support for the limited rollout of Tesla's robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, as recently as Tuesday. 'Absolutely historic day for Tesla,' he wrote on June 23 on X, the social media platform his former boss owns. 'Thank you, Elon, for pushing us all!' Afshar's departure comes at a time when the company's sales growth has vanished. Tesla sold fewer cars in 2024 than it did in 2023, the first annual drop since it started mass producing EVs more than a decade ago. Musk's involvement in U.S. politics has not helped, despite his recent pledge that he was leaving the Trump administration. Sales continued to struggle through the first half of 2025. The company's industry-leading profits fell 71% year-over-year in the first quarter. European sales fell nearly 28% percent year-over-year in May. Tesla will report global delivery figures for the second quarter next week, and financial results for the period in mid-July. Afshar was not a particularly public-facing executive at Tesla. He joined the company in 2017 and spent years working in the 'office of the CEO.' He took on increasing responsibilities ever since; Musk has previously credited Afshar with leading the construction of Tesla's massive factory in Austin, Texas. Not long after that, though, Afshar found himself in hot water. In 2022 he became a subject of an internal probe after he was allegedly involved in a plan to purchase special material for a glass building Musk reportedly wanted. Both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating those purchases in 2023. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Afshar moved over to SpaceX during some of that time period and reportedly was involved with X for a while. Musk elevated him to the role of vice president in late 2024 after another top executive, Tom Zhu, moved back to China. Bloomberg News also reported Thursday that Tesla's director of HR for North America, Jenna Ferrua, is no longer with the company. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Here's What It Costs To Charge a Tesla Monthly vs. Using Gas for a Honda Civic
Filling up your car is going to cost you money one way or another. For an electric vehicle, like a Tesla, you need to find a charging station to give your battery the juice it needs to operate. For other cars, like a Honda Civic, the price of gas can be fairly high if you are planning on getting a full tank at the pump. For You: Trending Now: So let's do the math: read below to find out what it actually costs to charge a Tesla each month compared to the price of gas for a Honda Civic in the same month. Joseph Nagle, head of Corporate Strategy at Pando Electric, broke down this question in a few ways, looking at monthly fuel costs, which will vary based on state, analyzing national costs versus two of the larger electric vehicles (EVs) states that also have a fairly wide variance between electricity pricing and gas. Nagle outlined an example based on 1,000 miles driven each month, with Tesla Model 3 efficiency clocking in at approximately 4 miles per kWh and Honda Civic coming to 33 MPG combined. When it comes to national averages, Nagle listed the cost of electricity at 15 cents per kWh while gas came to about $3.75 per gallon. Check Out: Looking at annual costs, Tesla Model 3's calculation is $37.50 per month (250 kWh x 15 cents), equaling $450 yearly and the Honda Civic calculation looks like $113.63 per month (30.3 gal x $3.75), equaling $1,363.56 yearly. This means that across the country, the savings go to Tesla at $76.13 a month, which equals $913.56 per year. To further illustrate the cost comparison between a Tesla and Honda Civic, Nagle analyzed two states: California, which has a high-cost market for transportation expenses and Florida's lower-cost region for fuel. In California, electricity costs on average 33 cents per kWh and gasoline is $4.78 per gallon. Examining annual vehicle costs in the state, the Tesla Model 3's bill comes out to $82.50 per month (250 kWh x 33 cents), equaling $990 a year, while the Honda Civic is $144.08 per month (30.3 gal x $4.78), equaling $1,728.96 a year. This means the Tesla has a savings of $61.58 a month or $738.96 per year. Florida, on the other hand, has average costs of 16 cents per kWh for electrics and $3.08 per gallon for gasoline. Factoring the yearly vehicle costs in Florida would have a Tesla Model 3 amounting to $480 a year based on $40 per month (250 kWh x 16 cents) and a Honda Civic at $1,119.84 a year coming from $93.32 per month (30.3 gal x $3.08). Again, the Tesla wins with $53.32 per month, adding up to $639.84 a year. In every scenario-national average, California's high-cost market and Florida's lower-cost region — Nagle had some insights to share. 'The Tesla Model 3 substantially outperforms the Honda Civic in terms of fueling costs. Even with California's significantly higher electricity prices, Tesla remains the cheaper choice monthly and annually,' Nagle said. 'This highlights a key advantage of EV ownership: regardless of location, driving electric consistently costs significantly less than fueling a gasoline-powered vehicle,' he added. More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 Warren Buffett: 10 Things Poor People Waste Money On 10 Unreliable SUVs To Stay Away From Buying This article originally appeared on Here's What It Costs To Charge a Tesla Monthly vs. Using Gas for a Honda Civic
