A popular news headline earlier this week (including here on ValueWalk) is BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer backed by Warren Buffett, which won the title of the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer from Tesla. However, there is one important distinction to point out that may change some people’s views on the matter.
Clarifying the headlines about Tesla and BYD
Tesla delivered a little over 250,000 vehicles in the second quarter, marking a decline from the first quarter in two years after the Shanghai plant shut down related to the closure. That total brought the California-based EV maker to 564,742 electric vehicles in the first six months of the year.
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Meanwhile, BYD reports 638,157 tram delivery in the first half of the year, but including plug-in hybrids. In our piece on the Tesla/BYD story, we mentioned that BYD’s number includes plug-in hybrid vehicles, which combine a traditional internal combustion engine with a typical electric vehicle battery. .
However, Electrek adds that nearly half of the vehicles BYD is classifying as “electric” are hybrids. The tech blog argues that this fact means that Tesla remains the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles.
Is the difference reasonable? Or Just Split the Hair?
No doubt, plug-in hybrid is a transitional technology that will become obsolete as all-electric vehicles provide a long enough range to allow for fast charging, road trip and travel time. similar to gasoline-powered vehicles. . Therefore, it is important to distinguish between an all-electric vehicle and a hybrid vehicle.
However, many government agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, practice pooling “plug-in hybrid electric vehicles” (PHEVs) with all-electric vehicles. As a result, some may question whether it is important to distinguish between fully electric and electric vehicles at this stage.
One important thing to understand when it comes to PHEVs is that many of them can only go about 20 to 40 miles alone on battery power before they start using gas. While this is fine for people who don’t stray far from home much, it is an important issue for road users.
Of course, the all-electric range on the PHEV Going up, but they are still far short of what is offered by all-electric vehicles. In fact, Tesla cars are known for their exceptional range, often exceeding 300 miles on a full charge. Therefore, it is easy to understand why electric vehicle enthusiasts are worried about plug-in hybrids being lumped together with all-electric vehicles.
As to whether they should really be grouped together, it all depends on your point of view.
Originally published on ValueWalk. Read Here.
Image supplier: Pixabay; Bark; Thank you!
