From One Shipping Container of Batteries to Millions of Vehicles Sold Overseas Annually, BYD's "New Business Card" Is More Than Sales Volume

Netcar Commentary  A convoy departed from Xi'an, passing through Bozhou, Jingdezhen, Hangzhou, Wuyishan, Quanzhou, and Chaozhou along the way, finally arriving in Shenzhen. Fragrant herbs, porcelain, silk, and tea were written into the route map, and seven flash charging stations, two racetracks, and models from five networks and four brands were also interspersed.

When I first saw this map, my gaze first fell on the road after Shenzhen.

Shenzhen is where BYD started, it is BYD's global headquarters, and also the endpoint of this domestic journey. The convoy will continue to go overseas from here.

In recent years, Chinese car companies have been used to using roll-on/roll-off ships, overseas sales, and new factories to tell the story of going global, and BYD also has enough numbers. But when the convoy runs past highways, cities, mountain roads, and coastal roads, telling the story of China's smart manufacturing setting sail on the new Silk Road overseas, I gradually feel that how the technology in the car works, and how charging follows, might be closer to the daily life of globalization than a departure at the port.

Over twenty years in the automotive field, BYD's impression on the outside world has changed several times. Early on, people remembered its batteries, later people remembered DM-i and Blade Batteries, and in recent years, Yangwang, Fangchengbao, DiPilot, DiSus, Yi Sifang, and Flash Charge have been added.

After the number of terms increased, I also worried they would each talk their own language, until seeing different brands driving along the same route, I realized BYD is organizing the technology accumulated over these years into things that users can feel.

Nineteen Years Ago, BYD Was Already Studying Fast Charging

From 2007 to 2008, BYD participated in research and development projects such as pure electric vehicles and their fast charging systems. In December 2008, F3DM was launched in Shenzhen. This car could charge using a common 220V power source, also supported fast charging at professional charging stations. The announced charging speed at the time was a 50% charge in 10 minutes.

In that era when private new energy vehicle consumption in China was just starting, charging facilities were very scarce. Users had not yet formed the cognition of charging cars, nor had they formed the habit of charging cars.

When F3DM launched, Wang Chuanfu reminded owners on stage not to forget to charge mobile phones before going to sleep, and not to forget to charge the car either. This action which sounds quite ordinary today, even required a car company to teach users back then.

By the end of 2010, F3DM cumulative sales were only 365 units. This number is far from BYD today, but looking back from the current perspective, at that time BYD had already considered batteries, cars, and charging facilities together before the market matured, forming a sharp contrast with the blind follow-the-market car-making of many car companies today.

Eighteen years ago, F3DM already had fast charging capability, but charging facilities were far from mature. This time, the BYD convoy went south along Xi'an Lintong, Bozhou Yingquan, Hefei, Shengzhou, Wuyishan, and coastal highway. Flash charging stations are already distributed in highway service areas and urban business circles, and the number of stations is still increasing.

With the support of the second-generation Blade Battery, BYD's Flash Charge models have shortened charging time to minutes. On highways, city stops, and mountain roads, users can continue on the road with just a brief stop. The charging experience is very close to refueling a fuel vehicle.

When the convoy arrived in Shenzhen, my understanding of BYD's charging system also changed.

In the past, I often regarded batteries as its trump card for making cars. Looking at it again today, BYD has been preparing for charging for many years. And now, the most direct feeling for users is the dozens of minutes saved on the road.

Early research did not immediately bring market. BYD did not stop investment because of this. After F3DM, this thing was continued for nearly twenty years. BYD's credibility when talking about charging technology today also comes from this verifiable long-term investment.

Five Networks, Four Brands Walk on the Same Road

Around 2019, BYD began to adjust automobile sales channels. Since then, Dynasty, Ocean, Denza, Fangchengbao, and Yangwang gradually formed their own product sequences.

But in the process of BYD extending from the mass home market to luxury, ultra-luxury, off-road, and high-performance markets, external doubts have always existed.

Some say, for a brand good at mass manufacturing, entering higher-priced, more refined markets, the lessons to be made up are far more than power and configuration.

The convoy drove from Xi'an to Shenzhen. Cities, highways, mountain roads, and racetracks appeared in sequence. Dynasty and Ocean bear daily and family travel, Denza takes care of long-distance seating and luxury experience, Fangchengbao enters mountain roads and unpaved roads, Yangwang shows four-motor and body control capabilities at the racetrack.

Although there are differences in price and usage among brands and models, every car shares BYD's accumulated new energy vehicle technology and whole vehicle manufacturing capabilities.

On this road from north to south, the convoy passed urban areas, and ran on highways and mountain roads. Enabling DiPilot has become a common action during driving.

After running hundreds of kilometers, the driver can feel the heaviness and lightness of acceleration/deceleration during car following, a judgment once entering/exiting ramps, whether the takeover prompt comes a bit early or late.

A few years ago, when talking about BYD externally, the first thoughts were still batteries and hybrids. High-level assisted driving was rarely ranked at the front. This impression needs to change. Every car following, lane changing, and takeover must give people confidence.

In the past many years, BYD brought heavy-weight technologies to mass production products one after another, and made products in scale. After the formation of Five Networks Four Brands, they showed another capability. That is relying on common R&D and manufacturing foundations to enter multiple market segments and serve users with different needs.

This change is more important than adding a few brand names or models. It means BYD is growing from an automotive enterprise known for technology into an automotive group with clear brand hierarchy and wide market coverage.

From a Three-Person Office in Rotterdam to Rayong Factory

At the end of 1998, Li Ke brought an engineer and a translator to Rotterdam, Netherlands. Wang Chuanfu gave them startup resources: one shipping container of batteries and $30,000, and said, if you can reach break-even, continue. If you lose it all, stop.

Then the three people made calls to find customers during the day, wrapped battery packs together at night, and drove forklifts to deliver goods the next day.

On New Year's Day 1999, BYD's first overseas branch opened for business. At that time, the protagonist of overseas business was still batteries hidden in mobile phones.

More than twenty years later, BYD's own roll-on/roll-off ships began to shuttle between global ports, and Thailand's Rayong factory has already covered stamping, welding, painting, assembly, and parts production.

In July 2024, BYD's 8 millionth new energy vehicle rolled off this factory. Annual capacity about 150,000 units. Compared to shipping a car from Shenzhen, building a factory locally requires handling employees, supply, regulations, services, and consumption habits. Investment is heavier, and more is left behind.

In 2025, BYD's overseas sales exceeded 1 million units for the first time. Entering 2026, the overseas market is still growing rapidly, business has already covered 121 countries and regions.

From walking from the small office in Rotterdam to today, BYD's overseas operation has changed products, scale, and methods. The early approach of being close to customers and entering local markets has not lost its effectiveness.

After the convoy arrives in Shenzhen, it will continue to drive overseas. This reminds me of the three people in Rotterdam back then.

For a Chinese brand going global, the starting point can be a shipping container of batteries, or it can be a ship of new energy vehicles. But finally it must be implemented in the lives of local users.

After sales volume reached one million units, the overseas market BYD faces has become much more complex than before.

More than twenty years ago, BYD needed to make overseas customers know a battery enterprise from China. Today, what it needs to build is global consumer recognition of a Chinese automobile enterprise.

Written at the End

Thousands of years ago, camel caravans and merchant ships followed the Silk Road, transporting fragrant herbs, porcelain, silk, and tea to farther places. The world thereby recognized China's products.

Today, a convoy composed of different brand models of BYD drove from Xi'an to Shenzhen, then went to South Asia. This journey spanning mountains and rivers looked back at the traffic on the ancient Silk Road, and also let technology and vehicles undergo testing on real roads.

Electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products are called China's Export "New Three Items". They represent another change in China's exports. The three fields involved in "New Three Items", BYD has been laid out for many years.

With whole vehicles accelerating into overseas markets, BYD's technology application, charging facilities, and long-term services will also quickly follow.

From single commodity output to technology, manufacturing, and service capabilities entering overseas markets together. BYD is participating in global traffic and energy transformation with green technology, creating a new business card of China's smart manufacturing belonging to this era.