Web Summit Rio: BYD says China penetration above 50%, upbeat about market despite Tesla gloom

“This is a significant milestone in the world… It’s the first time that new-energy vehicles have passed over the normal ICE vehicles.”

Originally published April 18, 2024

Chinese manufacturing giant BYD has signalled its confidence about the market for EVs, saying that penetration of new-energy vehicles has just passed the historic milestone of 50 percent in China.

Following worldwide shock at recent gloomy market forecasts, and reported layoffs at Tesla, Tyler Li, president at BYD Brasil, pushed back against the notion that “bad times are coming” in the EV market.

Speaking at Web Summit Rio, Tyler defied the sceptics, saying: “Currently in China we can see the penetration for new-energy vehicles is increasing a lot. Only this month, penetration for new-energy vehicles has passed over 50 percent – actually, 50.4 percent.”

“I think this is a significant milestone in the world. It’s the first time that the new energy vehicles have passed over the normal ICE vehicles,” added Tyler.

Speaking on Web Summit Rio’s Machine stage, Tyler also talked about the range of new developments the firm foresees in EVs – including using your phone to control your vehicle’s systems remotely.

“For example, in our vehicles we could use a cell phone to control the vehicle remotely. You could use your cell phone to turn on the air conditioner before you go to the vehicle at your office. You could use your cell phone to open the door and activate your vehicle. You could lend your vehicle to your friend without a key.

“So if you’re in Brasilia and your friend in Sao Paulo wants to drive your car, you could activate it through your cell phone and then they could drive it without the key.”

Tyler added that BYD is also looking at solar-powered charging to help make EVs more green.

Our dream is to have a green circle. To use […] a solar panel to generate energy, and then to use the batteries to store this energy. Then to use all kinds of vehicles to consume this energy generated from solar power. So it’s a green circle.”

Tyler said that energy sources were important, as were improved batteries, because of the energy demands of future ‘intelligent EVs’ – and that this will see ongoing demand for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).

“For intelligent cars, for all the electrical devices, you’ll need to have more electricity. Normal ICE cars don’t have enough battery: and so to have a more intelligent car, you need to have more energy and more electricity in the vehicle. That’s why you need to have more battery,” said Tyler.

“That’s why we believe that, in the future, PHEVs and EVs will be the trend, because in a PHEV you have enough battery to power all these electrical devices. That’s why we think that in the future the PHEV and EV will be the trend.”

Tyler’s comments came days after reports that Tesla is laying off more than 10 percent of its global workforce, according an internal memo, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles. “About every five years, we need to reorganize and streamline the company for the next phase of growth,” CEO Elon Musk commented in a post on X earlier this week.

The BYD comments were made at Web Summit Rio as part of a wider discussion on the EV industry, its position in Brazil, and upcoming challenges. Web Summit Rio saw more than 34,000 people gather to discuss the most pressing questions around technology, and to make the meaningful connections that will shape the future.

The sold-out event is hosting a record number of women-founded startups (45 percent) among 34,397 attendees from 102 countries. This record-breaking attendance marks an almost 60-percent increase on the number who attended the first Web Summit Rio in 2023. The floor space at this year’s event has increased approximately 25 percent on last year, but the event was still sold out ahead of the opening day.

Web Summit Rio is the largest international tech event in Brazil. This year’s event has brought together 1,066 startups, 45 percent of which are women-founded. This is the highest ever proportion of women-founded startups at a Web Summit event, and the largest gathering of women founders at an event in South America. These startups are joined by 499 investors; 175 partners, including IBM, Huawei, SAP and Salesforce; 518 speakers from companies including BYD, IBM, Grindr and Nvidia; and 844 members of the media from all over the world.

About Web Summit:
Web Summit runs the world’s largest technology events, connecting people and ideas that change the world. Half a million people have attended Web Summit events – Web Summit in Europe, Web Summit Rio in South America, Collision in North America, Web Summit Qatar in the Middle East, and RISE in Asia – since the company’s beginnings as a 150-person conference in Dublin in 2009.

In February, Web Summit held its hugely successful inaugural event in the Middle East. Web Summit Qatar welcomed more than 15,000 attendees and was supported by 100-plus partners, including the Qatar Investment Authority, Snap, Deloitte, TikTok, Huawei, Microsoft, Shell, Palo Alto Networks, EY, Builder.ai and Qatar Airways. Web Summit Qatar showcased the work of more than 1,000 startups from around the world, and helped introduce them to a network of more than 300 investors in Doha.

Web Summit’s mission is to enable the meaningful connections that change the world. Web Summit also undertakes a range of initiatives to support diversity, equality and inclusion across the tech worlds, including Impact, women in tech, Amplify, our scholarship programme, and our community partnerships.

Useful links
Web Summit Rio website: https://rio.websummit.com/
Web Summit Rio media kit: https://rio.websummit.com/media/media-kit/
Web Summit Rio images: https://flickr.com/photos/websummitrio/
About Web Summit: about.websummit.com