BYD just announced that it has built its 15 millionth new energy vehicle. This category includes both fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids. This achievement is a big deal because of how little time it took to reach. It took the company 13 years to build its first million cars, but it took only 13 months to go from 10 million to 15 million, showing that the demand for electric cars is growing at a record pace around the globe.
The specific car that marked this milestone was a Denza N8L. This is a large SUV with six seats – a popular choice for big families who want to save on fuel. It is a plug-in hybrid, and it starts from RMB 299,800, which is roughly $42,600. This SUV rolled off the assembly line at the company’s factory in Jinan, China, a facility that only started making cars three years ago.
BYD started as a battery company in 1995 and did not even start making cars until 2003. Its first electric car, the F3DM, arrived in 2008. Back then, very few people were looking for electric cars. In March 2022, BYD made a bold move by stopping the production of cars that run only on gasoline. Since then, every vehicle they make has a plug. Today, they employ over 900,000 people with a dedicated, nearly 110,000-strong engineering and research team.
From January to November, the company sold 4,182,038 vehicles – that is an 11.3% increase compared to the same time last year. BYD is also selling more cars outside of China than ever before. In the first 11 months of the year, they sold 917,000 units in other countries. The company now sells its products in more than 110 different regions – they even built their 14 millionth car at a factory in Brazil in October.
Research is a huge part of why these electric cars are becoming so popular. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company spent 43.75 billion RMB on research and development. That is about $6.2 billion. BYD has spent a total of more than 220 billion RMB over the years to stay ahead of the competition. This money goes toward things like “Flash Charging,” which allows a driver to charge a battery almost as fast as filling a tank with gas. They are also working on better self-driving features to keep passengers safe on the road.
Europe is the next big target for the brand. Currently, people can buy BYD EVs in 33 European countries at about 1,000 different locations. The company plans to have twice as many dealerships by the end of 2026. They are also preparing to launch new models with the powerful Z9GT coming next year to Europe.
