Tesla has hit a bump in the road – but there’s no need to hit the brakes on electric cars
What does a plunge in demand for Elon Musk’s battery-powered marque mean for the rest of the industry, asks Sean O’Grady – that another game-changing tech innovation is just around the corner
I’m not quite sure what to make of the supposed wave of “bad news” for the electric car, except to say that it does feel very much like a case study in the shortsightedness of much of the press.
Tesla’s sales and latest quarterly financial results were disappointing – deliveries nosedived, and sales saw their first decrease since 2020 – and the fact it is the biggest and most celebrated all-electric car make in the world makes the story naturally compelling. Plus, of course, the magnetic personality of Elon Musk, a man who seems to have too many challenges at the moment, even for his formidable, if flawed, talents.
Less well-known, but equally important were the results from BYD, a private-sector Chinese concern. They too were down, by even more than Tesla, a product of weaker demand in the home market. As a result, Build Your Dreams, to give the brand its full title, is now “only” the second largest battery electric car company in the world.
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