Tesla Loses Its EV Crown

Tesla, once the king of electric vehicles (EVs), has been dethroned. In 2025, BYD, a Chinese automaker, sold more EVs than Tesla. BYD sold 2. 26 million EVs, while Tesla sold 1. 64 million. This is a big deal because it's the first time Tesla has not been the top EV seller. Tesla's sales dropped for two years in a row. In the last three months of 2025, Tesla's sales fell by 16%. This happened after the US ended a $7, 500 tax credit for EVs. Experts say that Tesla's sales are also hurt by Elon Musk's political views, which some people don't like.BYD didn't even need the US market to beat Tesla. They focused on selling more cars in Europe and Latin America. This helped them grow their business in China. Tesla is still making most of its money from selling cars. But Elon Musk is talking a lot about Tesla's future in robotics. He thinks that 80% of Tesla's value will come from a humanoid robot called Optimus. Investors seem to believe Musk. Even though Tesla's car sales dropped, its stock went up by 11% in 2025. In November, shareholders gave Musk a huge pay package to keep him as CEO. This isn't just happening to Tesla. Rivian, another EV company, also had worse-than-expected sales. They are also trying to focus more on AI.