BYD launches a ‘Model 3 killer’ EV in China for half the price of Tesla’s top-selling car

The Qin L and Xpeng’s Mona M03, which are priced around US$16,500, arrive as the US company’s mainland sales are dropping

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BYD Qin L EV starts at 119,800 yuan (US$16,526). Photo: Handout

Published: 5:00pm, 24 Mar 2025Updated: 9:45pm, 25 Mar 2025

Top global electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD has launched a new sedan that aims to rival the features of Tesla’s Model 3 – long the mainland market’s top selling EV – for around half the price.

The Qin L starts at 119,800 yuan (US$16,517), while the basic edition of the Model 3 is priced at 235,500 yuan. Shenzhen-based BYD’s new sedan has a driving range of 545km, while the Model 3 offers 634km. Both cars feature preliminary self-driving software and a digital cockpit.

Launched on Sunday, the Qin L and Guangzhou-based Xpeng’s Mona M03 – also priced at 119,800 yuan – are mounting the most serious challenge yet to Tesla at a time when sales of the US company’s Model 3 and Model Y SUV are slowing. Tesla’s overall mainland sales fell to 30,688 units last month, down 51.5 per cent from January and 49.2 per cent from a year earlier.

“BYD has already impressed most Chinese drivers as a maker of reliable electric cars, and its new products that are affordable to middle- and low-income consumers will lure some Tesla fans away from its Model 3 and Model Y,” said Tian Maowei, a sales manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai. “As it enjoys a pricing advantage, Qin L will easily generate thousands of deliveries a month.”

Xpeng sold more than 15,000 M03s in February, the company said this month. The car, launched in late 2024, features Xpeng’s autonomous driving system.

BYD, which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a minority shareholder, sold 322,846 cars in February, up 164 per cent year on year.

In 2020 when its Shanghai factory began operations, Tesla’s mainland sales of around 180,000 units accounted for more than 16 per cent of total EV sales nationwide. Last year, its mainland deliveries stood at 657,000 for a 6 per cent market share. In February, that dropped to 4.3 per cent.

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