electric car news is filled with new start-ups in China, all of which are potential rivals to Tesla, such as NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, Faraday Future, and a dozen more.
Their stock prices exploded, and some early investors made spectacular profits, but then they all fell back to earth as market realities crushed much of their dreams.
But now a new leader has emerged from the group. Electric cars made by the giant Chinese automaker BYD are everywhere. BYD's electric cars are available in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Europe. BYD has various models, most of them are affordable products that people are looking for.
BYD's electric cars in a number of countries have become Tesla's main competitor after in China, BYD became the market leader and beat Tesla.
Tesla is eyeing a second European factory
It now appears that both Tesla and BYD are eyeing new factories in Europe — the second for Tesla and the first for BYD. And both are at least thinking about building their new factory in France.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently met with French president Emmanuel Macron, who is eager to see more battery factories and electric car factories in his country. Macron has been a vocal supporter of the EU's new investment rules to counter the Inflation Reducing Act that took effect last August in the United States. Because laws in the US encourage a lot of new investment in America.
According to Car and Driver, this is Musk's second trip to France this month. This time apart from meeting Macron, he appeared at the Viva Tech Summit last Friday. He has also spoken to Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and there have also been rumors that Spain may be on Musk's radar. The country recently agreed to several economic incentives to attract further investment in car manufacturing by the Volkswagen Group.
“It would be great to have a Tesla factory in France. There is a lot of effort and energy to make sure this is possible, and it can happen," said France's digital minister, Jean-Noël Barrot. “We have also invested in . . . the entire electric battery sector, so we will try to convince him that France is the best place in Europe to set up the next Tesla factory,” he said.
The words, ironically, came from the minister in charge of digital technology in France, as there has been much chatter in Europe about how Twitter operates since it was bought by Musk last year. The EU Digital Services Act coming into effect in 2024 will oblige digital platforms like Twitter to hire more people to fact-check content and prevent the publication of false and illegal information. Meanwhile, French regulators are considering banning Twitter until it complies with the terms of the Digital Services Act.
"Today, France is more attractive than ever," French Industry Minister Roland Lescure said in a radio interview this week. "But the competition with other countries is fierce, so we are bringing out all of our power." France's competitive advantages include cheap renewable electricity available to build new factories, he added.
YD also wants a European factory
Tesla isn't the only electric car (EV) company that France wants to build a factory on its home soil. France has been in talks with Chinese automaker BYD, which announced earlier this month it would start selling five EVs in France until the end of 2023.
