Tesla rival unveils world's first electric vehicle that can fill up as fast as a tank of gas

A rival to Tesla has unveiled a car that could completely change the electric vehicle industry.

In a world-first, the vehicle is able to fill up on power as fast as a tank of gas.

It looks like the Chinese automaker could be giving Elon Musk a run for his money.

BYD has taken over Tesla as the world's largest EV manufacturer (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

BYD is a car firm that has unveiled its new battery for electric vehicles that is able to charge up a car in around the same amount of time that it takes to fill up a tank of gas.

Named the Super E-Platform, the battery is four times faster than Tesla Superchargers, charging at a speed of 1,000 kW compared with Tesla’s 250 kW.

This means that with the BYD battery, you can clock up another 249 miles worth of charge in just five minutes.

The company revealed in a live stream from its headquarters in Shenzhen, China, that mass production of the new battery will ‘completely solve users’ range anxiety when traveling’.

While the super quick charging system will only be available to customers in China at first, it’s hoped that a global rollout will follow.

And demand for BYD is growing as it took Tesla’s crown as the world’s largest EV manufacturer last year despite not yet having a presence in the US.

According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), electric vehicles made up 18% of all of the new cars that were sold around the world in 2023.

This figure is up from the year previous, which was 14%.

Tesla shares have taken a hit in recent weeks (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

During BYD’s live stream, the firm’s founder, Wang Chuanfu, revealed that the company’s new Han L and Tang L models are likely to start at around $40,000.

Tesla has seen its shares plummet as Musk continues to be in the center of controversy over his involvement with the Trump administration.

Last month, Tesla shareholders demanded that the CEO share ‘five things he’s done for them this week’.

The jibe appeared to use Musk’s own words against him as it referenced a controversial email sent out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which demanded federal employees justify their paychecks.

In a post published on X, formerly Twitter, on February 26, one investor shared a graph which shows the poor performance of Tesla stock in recent weeks.

The user wrote: “Please share 5 things you did for $TSLA shareholders this week. Or are you working remotely? Asking for all of us.”