2023 wasn’t a great year for electric vehicles.

While overall adoption of EVs continues to grow, Americans aren’t making the switch as fast as car manufacturers - and lawmakers - were hoping. Many consumers are finding hybrids to be a more enticing option.

Established auto companies like Ford and GM took their foot off the gas when it came to pushing EVs over their traditional models, with Ford postponing $12 billion in EV spending and GM delaying the release of the EV versions of some of its truck models.

But largely weathering this storm is the most popular electric vehicle company there is: Tesla.

The Elon Musk-owned company reported their Q4 delivery numbers yesterday that surpassed not only analyst expectations, but their own guidance as well.

Their quarter four deliveries of 485,000 was enough to not only top their goals for the quarter, but was enough to exceed their year-end goal of 1.8 million.

Tesla continues to dominate the American EV market. To say they lead their closest competitor by a wide margin wouldn’t even begin to paint the picture of just how much they control their market.

Whatever storm clouds the rest of the US EV market has had to suffer, Tesla has been able to fly safely above them.

That is, in the US…

Trouble Abroad

Despite Tesla’s personal record for vehicles delivered in a single quarter, it wasn’t enough to hold onto the top spot worldwide.

American automakers may not have been able to scratch Tesla’s surface in the US, but that isn’t the case in China.

The Warren Buffett-backed Chinese automaker was able to out-do Tesla by delivering 526,409 vehicles in Q4.

More concerning still is that BYD, who sells roughly 90% of its vehicles within China, is starting to expand its international operations by building its first non-China factory in Hungary.

What is BYD’s secret weapon that has allowed it to overtake Tesla, who has thoroughly dominated the US market?

BYD sells their EVs for practically nothing, with their average car costing under $30,000, while Tesla’s most popular car, the Model Y starts at $44,000.

This is with Tesla already cutting its prices more aggressively than anyone else in the business…

Tesla may have to drop its prices even lower as certain variants of the Model 3 no longer qualify for the $7,5000 federal tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act.

If Elon hopes to keep Tesla firmly seated on the worldwide EV throne, he certainly has his work cut out for him.

It’s true what they say, heavy is the head that wears the crown.

With that, we’d like to hear your thoughts. Do you see Tesla losing its lead anytime soon? How much is too much for an electric vehicle? Write to us about this, or anything at feedback@technologyprofits.com.