Increasing familiarity with the process of recharging electric vehicles (EVs) will boost the currently stalling switch to electric in the UK, according to the most senior global spokesperson of new-energy manufacturer BYD.

A recent survey by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) concluded that 1.782 million new EVs will be registered in the UK between 2025 and 2027, with 23% of new car buyers planning to go electric by 2028. But this is well below Government aspirations with the Zero Emissions Mandate calling for EV sales at 28% as soon as the end of 2025.

As a result the SMMT is leading growing industry calls for Government action to convert Britain’s ‘electric sceptics’ to the benefits of EVs, insisting that purchase incentives should be employed to stimulate greater demand and arguing that growth could be accelerated by halving VAT on new EV purchases.

Such measures would according to SMMT calculations drive up demand by a further 15%, putting 267,000 additional new EVs on the road. However Stella Li, Executive Vice President of BYD, believes that forthcoming measures, in particular the increasing roll-out of charging stations, will boost enthusiasm among buyers to make the switch anyway.

Li, who in January was named World Car Person of the Year, spoke to Business Motoring at the UK launch of the BYD Sealion performance SUV, and pointed out that BYD’s two-pronged new energy strategy, offering both full battery EVs and plug-in hybrids using the company’s DM-i technology, is based on the differing rates of EV take-up being seen across Europe.

“We have BEV where there is high-penetration, but here in the UK it’s around 20%, in Germany 28%, which means 70% of consumers are currently staying in ICE cars,” she said, adding that the DM-i hybrids are aimed at such customers, and that there will be more BYD DM-i models joining the brand’s line-up in future.

All-electric by 2035

Li, however, does not support arguments that the current 2035 deadline for the ending of plug-in hybrid sales should be extended. “I think by 2035 in the UK it will be a 100% electric picture. It is not a big country and once you put several supercharging stations in you can easily cover it,” she said – BYD recently unveiled a vehicle platform and charging infrastructure that can match combustion vehicle refuelling times, adding 400km of range in five minutes.

More importantly, the general roll-out of chargers will in Li’s view lead to the whole process of living with an EV becoming a familiar experience for far more users. “People will build up the habit of how to use electric cars. BYD EVs are widely used in the taxi market, working 24 hours a day – every single minute is money. But taxi drivers have worked out that they can recharge during their breaks and that is what they are doing.

“I think over the next seven years in the UK there will be a much greater build-up of chargers – when you come to somewhere like a shopping mall, 30% of the parking places will be charging. When you go to work, maybe all the parking slots will have chargers – same when you go home. Even if you live in an apartment, so long as you have a space to park a car, you will have a charger.”

Li believes that once EV users become used to recharging their vehicles, the much-touted range anxiety will disappear. “This happened in China – chargers were installed at people’s work, in shopping malls, even if they were driving long-distance they had somewhere to charge. On a 500km trip they needed a break to rest and in that half-hour they could recharge the car.”

Electric ambition

BYD’s growth around the globe has accelerated rapidly to a point where it is now the largest new energy vehicle producer in the world. The company celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024 and in the same year progressed from seven to 10 million vehicles produced, to a point where one in four new energy cars sold globally is a BYD.

This rapid growth has been replicated in the UK market, despite the brand only launching two years ago – the company’s market share is consistently growing every month and in Q4 2024 accelerated rapidly following the launch of the Seal U DM-i plug-in hybrid SUV.

Having outsold brands such as Honda in December with a market share of close to 1%, BYD increased this to 1.2% in January with a record 1600 registrations, notably ahead of long-time electric standard-bearer Tesla. The brand then hit 1.4% in February, ahead of SEAT, Dacia and Citroën.

The company is very much heading the clutch of new Chinese brands currently setting up on the UK market, and Li has very strong ambitions to climb above its current 22nd place in the overall automotive brand sales table with becoming number one the clear target. “When you measure by total new car sales, the UK ranks number 2 after Germany, followed by France – it is an important market for us.”

Li does not see the other Chinese brands as BYD’s major competition, arguing that any automotive brand taking on the European market has  to have a long-term strategy, and she believes that the coming years will see rationalisation amongst the crop of new names.

“In cellphones there were 20 different brands, everyone competing, and in the end there have been only three or four left. The Chinese want to do automotive and (as a result) you have many brands – some will go. You’ve seen it before in the auto industry, there were lots of Japanese brands and only some survived, also with the Korean brands. You will see it with the Chinese brands.”