by Tessa R. Salazar
Many automotive observers believe that the future of EVs will depend largely on two brands, BYD and Tesla.
That race to EV supremacy will be unpredictable, thrilling, and with probably some shocking (pardon the pun) plot twists along the way.
But what about the other global brands, you ask. Wouldn’t they also figure in this race? Well, let’s take global powerhouse Volkswagen Group, for instance. Bloomberg Intelligence reported that Tesla and BYD will remain well ahead of that group. Analysts led by Michael Dean said that the German marque is “no longer a contender” for the EV race.
But don’t you fret, ICE lovers. Experts still expect internal combustion engine-powered cars to rule the sales charts in the foreseeable future.
In the Philippines, BYD has obviously had a head start in the EV race. With Tesla having just recently opened its showroom and service center in EDSA, Mandaluyong late in 2023 through distributor EV Solutions, the BYD brand has found a very capable (read: resource rich) distributor in the 190-year-old Ayala Corp, who’s now in the middle of putting together an EV ecosystem to make EV ownership more convenient and cost-effective.
So, while this race won’t be heating up soon in our neck of the woods, let’s shift our focus from the cars to the captains, and get a glimpse of the fascinating story arcs of the persons behind these two industry disruptors.
Tesla president and CEO Elon Musk needs no introduction. The man is everything, everywhere, all at once—in one tweet. Silicon Valley’s most audacious businessman has been described by veteran technology journalist Ashlee Vance as a “modern alloy of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs.”
Musk, who has made changing the course of automotive history look easy, has apparently found that changing the course of public opinion a bit trickier. It doesn’t help that Musk has driven himself into one controversy after another. An opinion piece in the Washington Post published Jan 10, titled “No matter how high he gets, Elon Musk shouldn’t be above the law,” cited The Wall Street Journal, which “reported recently on Elon Musk’s alleged fondness for LSD, cocaine, mushrooms and ketamine. (He previously said he has a prescription for the last one.) The billionaire once took a puff of marijuana on commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast, but that is old and small news compared with reports of illicit substances frequently consumed. Many members of Tesla’s board, the Journal reported, are nervous. But it’s the government that should worry most.”
The op-ed continued: “Mr. Musk owns or leads several companies, each of which affords him influence over American life and the country. But it’s his leadership of SpaceX in particular that presents a serious problem. More than 4,500 of the 8,000 or so satellites in the skies today are Starlink satellites launched by Mr. Musk’s SpaceX. The goal is to send up nearly 10 times that number in the near future. This high concentration could provide communications even in remote locations and world flash points.
“Starlink has become essential in the Ukraine war, subjecting Ukraine’s fight for survival to Mr. Musk’s sometimes unhelpful whims. Similar scenarios could arise in future conflicts. The undersea cables connecting Taiwan to the world’s communications system are vulnerable, and Starlink could prove critical to repelling an invasion. But Mr. Musk stands to lose from alienating China; last month, more than half of Tesla’s global electric vehicle deliveries were assembled in its Shanghai plant.”
It looks like the more controversial Musk gets, the more powerful he becomes.
Vance’s investigative book on Musk, the New York Times bestseller “Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,” which is available in the Philippines, traces his journey from a difficult upbringing in South Africa to his ascent to the pinnacle of the global business world. The book narrates that, as a toddler, Musk would often drift off into his own world. Doctors theorized that he might have been hard of hearing, and had his adenoid glands removed. The book reveals Musk as a loner throughout grade school, suffering for years at the hands of bullies.
Now let’s look at Wang Chuanfu. His name might not ring as resonant a bell as that of Musk’s, but the company he founded—BYD—is surely making waves equaling, if not surpassing, those of Tesla’s.
A Business Insider story by Polly Thompson titled “How BYD founder Wang Chuanfu went from orphan to billionaire EV empire builder, beating out Elon Musk’s Tesla” goes: “Wang Chuanfu grew up an orphan in one of China’s poorest regions. Born in 1966 in east China’s agricultural Anhui province, Chuanfu was raised by his older siblings after his parents, both rice farmers, died.”
“(Wang) got a scholarship to study chemistry at Central South University…and later received a master’s degree in battery technology from the Beijing Non-Ferrous Metal General Research Institute, now known as the GRINM Group.” Thompson goes on to narrate about his years as a government researcher, then starting a cellphone battery manufacturing company with his cousin Lu Xingyang, naming the company BYD.
BYD means “Build Your Dreams,” and its business trajectory from a builder of cell phone batteries to surpassing Tesla as the world’s number one EV maker is the stuff of dreams, indeed.
Wang and company are hyping up that improbable-but-true story, describing BYD as “the biggest car brand you’ve never heard of.” Bloomberg has confirmed that this slogan is being used by the company to promote itself as it looks to expand across the globe.
BYD has become China’s best-selling auto brand. Now it has dethroned Tesla. But why do we get the feeling that BYD is still the underdog?
Maybe it’s in the optics, particularly that of the billionaires running the show. Nikkei Asia writer Cissy Zhou writes, in a Nov. 8, 2023 story titled “How China’s BYD went from bargain battery maker to Tesla’s biggest rival”: “Unheralded and unannounced, one man dressed in a low-key navy blue suit and tie emerged from backstage and took a seat in the audience. Few people in attendance seemed to recognize him as Wang Chuanfu, the architect of one of the world’s largest electric vehicle makers and Tesla’s biggest rival, BYD. As he appeared, one BYD media relations officer began applauding, an effort which soon halted awkwardly when no one else joined in.
“Traditionally dominated by local brands, Japan is a hard market for foreign automakers to crack. But Wang and BYD’s inaugural appearance at Tokyo’s premier auto show was a signal of the company’s confidence following a year of breakthroughs in markets throughout the world.”
The Nikkei story was describing BYD’s participation in the Japan Mobility Show 2023, on the occasion when the Chinese carmaker held its formal opening for the show.
The bullied and the orphan are locked in battle over global EV supremacy. Don’t blink, folks. Anything and EVerything can happen.