Who sold more electric cars in 2024, Tesla or BYD?

The figures are in and the difference between the two competitors is subtle

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By: Eleonora Lilli

Jan 3, 2025 at 3:28am ET

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2024 has just come to an end, so who sold the most electric vehicles in the world? The answer is still Tesla, but the figures aren't as exciting as they used to be.

In the first three quarters of 2024, 1.29 million Teslas were delivered, with fourth-quarter sales up 2.3% to 495,570. This brings the annual total to 1.79 million, 1.1% below the record of 1.81 million vehicles in 2023.

By contrast, 2024 went very well for BYD, which recorded 1,764,992 sales of electric cars. The difference is therefore minimal, and the distance between the two competitors is becoming ever smaller. In 2023, BYD delivered 1.57 million electric cars and Tesla 1.81 million.

A record year for BYD

For the first time in 2024, BYD sold more than 4 million cars, 4.3 to be precise, worldwide, an increase of 41% on 2023. Of these, 1,764,992 were BEVs (battery electric vehicles), up 12% on 2023 (1.6 million).

Fully electric vehicles accounted for 41.5% of BYD's total sales and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) accounted for 58.5% (2,485,378 vehicles, up 72.8% from 1.4 million in 2023).

It is also worth noting that BYD's sales outside China grew strongly, with 417,204 deliveries (+71.9% compared with 2023).

	Deliveries 2023	Deliveries 2024	Var. %
Tesla	1,808,581	1,790,000	-1.1%
BEV BYD	1,574,822 (52%)	1,764,992 (42%)	+12%
BYD PHEV	1,438,084 (48%)	2,485,378 (58%)	+73%
Total BYD	3,012,906	4,250,370	+41%

Not just cars

In addition to cars, as CarNewsChina points out, BYD is the second largest supplier of batteries in China, and counts Tesla, Nio and Toyota among its customers.

In December alone, the Chinese manufacturer installed 23.5 GWh of battery capacity, up 32% on last year. Cumulative battery installations for the year reached 194.7 GWh (+29%).

Tesla's outlook for 2025 and beyond

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Industry analysts attribute Tesla's stagnant sales to its range of obsolete models. The Cybertruck itself was unveiled a long time ago and sales, after the hype, have slowed sharply. Some also believe that Elon Musk's political activism in support of Donald Trump may have alienated long-time loyal customers from the company.

However, while vehicle sales remain Tesla's main source of revenue, Musk has said that the next major investments will be in software, both for autonomous driving and to improve humanoid robots. In terms of four-wheeled vehicles, a revamped version of the Model Y is expected to arrive in 2025.