Monday 05 January 2026 16:46 GMT Ed Davey calls for tariffs on Teslas Chinese automaker BYD has surpassed Tesla to become the world's largest electric vehicle seller, marking Tesla's second consecutive year of sales decline. BYD sold 2.26 million vehicles in 2025, outselling Tesla by nearly 700,000, with BYD's sales rising 28% while Tesla's dropped 8% in the same period. BYD's success is largely attributed to technological breakthroughs, such as its Super E-Platform battery, which offers a 400-kilometre range from just five minutes of charging. Tesla's declining brand reputation is linked to Elon Musk's polarising political views and alignment with the Trump administration, which led to protests and a significant drop in public perception. Musk is attempting to pivot Tesla towards AI and robotics, focusing on the Optimus robot, a strategy that some robotics experts question as technologically and economically unfeasible for a general-purpose humanoid assistant. In full