BYD launches cheapest UK model in bid to overtake Tesla as biggest electric carmaker

The Chinese manufacturer BYD has launched its cheapest model in the UK, in the latest stage of its efforts to overtake Tesla as the world’s biggest electric carmaker. The Dolphin Surf will start at £18,650, a price that puts it among the cheapest new vehicles on sale in Britain. BYD is vying with American rival Tesla, run by Elon Musk, for the crown of world’s biggest battery carmaker, although BYD already beats Tesla when including figures for hybrid cars, which combine a battery with a petrol engine. The Chinese carmaker…

Battery power: how China could take charge of the electric vehicle market

If you bought an electric vehicle in the UK this year, there’s a good chance it was an MG4. The fully electric hatchback, which launched in 2022, sold 5,200 units in the first three months of this year, the second-best selling EV behind Tesla’s Model Y. With prices starting at about £27,000, it is also substantially cheaper than the Tesla at £45,000. And while MG is one of Britain’s most famous car brands – with a century of carmaking in Birmingham until MG Rover’s 2005 collapse – the secret to…