Tesla Model Y Refresh Version received over 50,000 orders on the first day, and BYD's electric vehicle sales in Japan exceeded those of Toyota | Overseas Daily

"Top 3 News"

Tesla Received 50,000 Orders for the New Model Y on the First Day

Key Points:

According to media reports, Tesla received 50,000 orders for the new Model Y within approximately 24 hours. Last week, Tesla launched the mid-cycle facelift of the Model Y in China and a few markets supplied by the Shanghai factory, with deliveries expected to begin in March.

The new Model Y has not yet been launched in Europe or North America, but it is expected to be launched in the coming months. The design update of the new Model Y has not received as much praise as the design update of the Model 3, and its specification and functional upgrades are basically consistent with the updates of the Model 3. According to domestic bloggers, these orders come from information from Tesla salespeople, indicating that 50,000 Model Y orders were received on the first day.

In 2024, Tesla delivered approximately 480,000 Model Ys in China, with a year-on-year growth of about 5%. Due to the one-year anticipation of the design update of the new Model Y, there is a lot of pent-up demand, and people have been waiting for the update to place orders. It is reported that new orders placed now will not be delivered until April or May, which is used as evidence to support the number of orders. However, Tesla's Chinese Model Y configurator still shows deliveries in March.

Tesla's New Model Y (Source: Electrek)

Opinions:

Although 50,000 orders sounds like an impressive number, Tesla salespeople have limited knowledge of sales outside their own locations, and this information seems to come from them and be spread on social media through Chinese bloggers. This makes the credibility of this report questionable. Despite the news that new orders will not be delivered until April or May, Tesla's Chinese Model Y configurator still shows deliveries in March, which further increases doubts about the number of orders.

Despite some doubts, 50,000 orders is not an unbelievable number. Considering the popularity of the Model Y in the Chinese market and the anticipation of the design update, this order quantity is to some extent reasonable. However, more data and official information are needed to verify the accuracy of this report.

In 2024, BYD's Electric Vehicle Sales in Japan Surpassed Toyota

Key Points:

In 2024, BYD surpassed Toyota in electric vehicle (EV) sales in the Japanese market for the first time, marking a historic victory. BYD's EV sales in Japan reached 2,223 units, with a year-on-year growth of 54%, while Toyota's EV sales in Japan were only 2,038 units, with a year-on-year decline of 30%. BYD launched its first electric vehicle, the Atto 3, in Japan at the beginning of 2023, with a starting price of approximately $30,000, competing with popular domestic models such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

In addition, BYD also launched the Dolphin hatchback and the Seagull sedan, with starting prices of $19,000 and $33,500 respectively. The total EV sales in Japan decreased by 33% in 2024 to less than 60,000 units, the first year-on-year decline in four years. Nissan led with a market share of approximately 50%, although the LEAF sales almost dropped by 50%. Toyota's bZ4X sales increased by 10%, but only 1,012 units were sold in 2024. BYD plans to launch the Sealion 07, a new smart medium-sized electric SUV, in Japan in 2025.

BYD Seal in Japan (Source: Electrek)

Opinions:

BYD's success in the Japanese market shows that even in a market where foreign brands face intense competition, BYD can achieve a significant market share. The Japanese market has long been dominated by local brands, and BYD's breakthrough demonstrates its strong competitiveness in the electric vehicle field. BYD has not only achieved success in the Chinese market but is also rapidly expanding globally, including in regions such as Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America. With the industry's shift towards electric vehicles, BYD has a strong momentum, while Toyota lags in key markets.

BYD's continuous growth and the launch of new models lay the foundation for its further development in 2025. With the continuous expansion of the electric vehicle market, BYD is expected to surpass Toyota in global sales. Although the current sales figures are still relatively small, BYD's growth momentum in the Japanese market is impressive, indicating its potential in the global market.

Elon Musk's Claim About Tesla Achieving Unmanned Autonomous Driving Time Is Questioned

Key Points:

Tesla has consistently refused to share data on its autonomous driving progress. Although it recently began using "Necessary Intervention Mileage" as an indicator to measure progress and claims that the "Critical Intervention Mileage" has significantly improved in the recent update, there is no actual data to support this. Elon Musk once claimed that the FSD software updates 12.4 and 12.5 would be able to "significantly reduce the mileage per intervention", but Tesla has never released any data to support this claim.

According to some data, the mileage between critical interventions for FSD 12.5 is 294 kilometers (183 miles), while for FSD 12.3 it is 367 kilometers (228 miles). No Tesla FSD version has achieved a threefold improvement in the critical intervention mileage in the past three years. Tesla upgraded to FSD v13, and Elon Musk again claimed that this would be "astonishing". However, according to crowdsourced data of more than 12,874 kilometers (8,000 miles), the mileage between critical interventions for FSD v13 is 793 kilometers (493 miles), a significant reduction, but this claim remains to be verified.

Tesla FSD (Source: Electrek)

Opinions:

Elon Musk's current focus on highway data is misleading because the software stack has hardly been updated for years. Tesla has been working on autonomous driving in urban driving for two years, but ultimately released a long-delayed update that only covers autonomous driving on highways.

According to the data shared by Elon Musk himself, Tesla is still several years away from achieving unsupervised autonomous driving, although Elon Musk claims that this will happen in the "second quarter of 2025", which is only a few months away. Many people have significant doubts about the R & D progress of Tesla's FSD and do not believe the time promised by Elon Musk.

"Big Events"

The Growth Rate of Electric Vehicle Sales Increased Again in 2024

In 2024, global electric vehicle (EV) sales increased by 3.5 million units compared to the previous year. This growth rate exceeds the 3.2 million units increase in the previous year, indicating that not only are EV sales growing, but the growth rate itself is also accelerating. However, in the past year, incorrect political, media, and industry statements may have led people to mistakenly believe that this is not the case. Many people have repeatedly heard the lie that EV sales are in trouble and the growth has significantly slowed down. This incorrect view has been widely spread and even accepted as fact, despite the data showing that EV sales have not declined.

Sometimes, this misinformation is intentional and comes from interest groups that oppose the development of clean energy vehicles. However, this attitude has become so widespread that many people repeat and spread it without verification, causing misinformation to become common knowledge.

BYD Exported Electric Vehicles (Source: Electrek)

The Electric Vehicle Research and Consulting Company Rho Motion released a new report confirming that EV sales are still growing strongly. In 2024, EV sales increased in all regions of the world except Europe. Among them, China's growth was 40%, North America's growth was 9%, and other regions' growth was 27%.

Although the overall sales in Europe decreased by 3%, the EV sales in most European countries except Germany showed an upward trend. Germany's sales decreased due to the early release of demand after the end of EV subsidies at the end of 2023. Although Tesla, the world's largest EV manufacturer, experienced its first consecutive sales decline since 2011, dragging down a market that could have grown faster, EV sales in other regions of the world and overall still increased significantly.

Before Trump's Return, Biden Pushes $635 Million in Electric Vehicle Charger Grants

The Biden administration awarded $635 million in electric vehicle charger subsidies 10 days before Trump took office, leaving only $700,000 unallocated from the $2.5 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021. These subsidies come from Biden's Zero-Emission Fueling Infrastructure Program and will fund 49 projects to deploy more than 11,500 electric vehicle charging ports and alternative fuel infrastructure in corridors and communities in 27 states, 4 federally recognized tribes, and the District of Columbia.

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Construction in the US (Source: Electrek)

Among them, $368 million will be allocated to 42 projects to expand the electric vehicle charging infrastructure within the US communities, while $268 million will be used for 7 projects to build a national fast-charging network on designated alternative fuel corridors. These subsidies are achieved through the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 10% reserved funds of the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that these investments will help states and communities build an electric vehicle charger network in the coming years so that one day finding a charging station on a road trip will be as easy as refueling at a gas station. According to the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center, there are currently nearly 70,000 public electric vehicle charging stations in the US with more than 197,000 charging ports. The Biden administration has set a goal of building 500,000 public electric vehicle chargers by 2030. Since the election, the Biden administration has been accelerating the allocation of clean energy funds to counter the threat of Trump withdrawing these funds. Once the funds are allocated, it will be almost impossible to withdraw them.

The Time for Kia to Access Tesla Supercharger Stations Is Delayed

Kia has been added to the Tesla Supercharger APP page, but the usage rights will be delayed for several weeks or months. It was originally planned to open on January 15, but it has been postponed to the first quarter of 2025. The head of Kia's public relations said that they are confirming the new date with the team. It is not clear whether this will affect brands on the shared platform such as Hyundai and Genesis. Older Kia/Hyundai vehicles can still use adapters.

Hyundai Kia Accessing Tesla Supercharger Stations (Source: Electrek)

In 2022, Tesla announced the opening of its charging network due to federal grants. In 2023, Ford's adoption of Tesla's NACS interface triggered an industry chain reaction. Although some brands can already use the supercharger stations, the entire promotion process involves vehicle design, adapter manufacturing, etc., which takes time. Previously, Elon Musk's dismissal of the supercharging team led to a slowdown in the promotion. It was thought that the addition of many brands to the APP page could stabilize the situation, but the delay news of Kia indicates that there are still problems to be solved.

Mercedes-Benz and Google Collaborate on AI Conversation Search in Navigation System

Mercedes-Benz expands its collaboration with Google Cloud to introduce new conversation features for the MBUX virtual assistant, supported by Google Cloud's automotive AI agent. The AI agent is built using Gemini on Vertex AI and can reference Google Maps Platform information to provide detailed, personalized navigation and point-of-interest conversation responses.

Mercedes-Benz Cockpit (Source: ElectricCarsReport)

The Google Maps Platform provides real-time updated information for 250 million locations worldwide to car owners. Users can have a natural conversation with the MBUX virtual assistant to obtain detailed information and navigation for points of interest such as restaurants. The new features will be first launched in the MBUX virtual assistant of the new CLA and are planned to be extended to more models in the future. Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius emphasizes that the collaboration with Google Cloud will enhance the in-car navigation experience. Google CEO Sundar Pichai says that the collaboration will bring AI breakthroughs and improve the driving experience.

"Cool Products"

RSQ8 Performance

RSQ8 Performance is a new model launched during the 2024 facelift, positioned above the "standard" RSQ8. It is equipped with the most powerful mass-produced internal combustion engine in the history of Audi Sport, a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that can output 631 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers in just 3.6 seconds.