RE: Does anyone know if China is subsidizing EVs in its internal market?
For BYD? ABSOLUTELY. BYD is one of the largest recipients of China’s EV subsidies.
🔹 Direct subsidies: $3.7 billion. See here:
https://electrek.co/2024/04/12/china-gave-byd-an-incredible-3-7-billion-to-win-the-ev-race/
The Kiel Institute study shows:
• BYD received €220 million in 2020
• Rising to €2.1 billion in 2022
• Subsidies increased from 1.1% of revenue to 3.5% over that period
This makes BYD the single largest beneficiary of China’s EV subsidy program.
China continues to offer trade‑in subsidies for new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include BYD’s EVs and hybrids.
Consumers can receive:
• 12% rebate (up to RMB 20,000) for buying a new NEV
This program disproportionately benefits BYD because:
• BYD dominates the NEV segment
• BYD’s average selling price is lower than Tesla’s, making subsidies more impactful
But before we cry UNFAIR. Let’s look at Tesla...
Tesla has also received significant U.S. government support, but the type of support is very different from China’s subsidies to BYD.
The Washington Post investigation shows:
• Elon Musk’s companies (including Tesla) have received $38 billion in government funding over 20 years.
• Tesla specifically has earned $11.4 billion in regulatory credits from federal and state programs.
• Tesla buyers benefited from the $7,500 federal EV tax credit (until Tesla hit the 200,000‑vehicle cap in 2019).
These are real subsidies — but they are market‑based incentives, not direct industrial subsidies.
See here:
https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/117951/documents/HHRG-119-JU08-20250227-SD008-U8.pdf
and here:
https://fourwheelask.com/does-tesla-receive-government-subsidies/
Thanks for that excellent background.