As slumping EV giant Tesla's sales slow to a crawl, rival Chinese company BYD is starting to eat its lunch.Yesterday, the Shenzhen-based corporation revealed a lineup of cars it claims can soak up nearly 250 miles' worth of battery charge in just five minutes just a hair longer than the time it takes to pump a traditional car full of gasoline. The buzzy new tech will be available next month in BYD's flashy new Han L sedan.That announcement sent shockwaves through the EV space and beyond, and it's not hard to see why. If the claims hold up, BYD's system will be at least twice as fast as Li Auto's Mega MPV, which can charge about 310 miles in 12 minutes, and more than three times more efficient than Tesla's record of a 170-mile charge in 18 minutes, according to Bloomberganalysis.Since announcing the Han L, BYD's market value has skyrocketed. In just one day, BYD's valuation surpassed Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen combined a first for the company, and a major boon for the Chinese automotive industry. Tesla's stock, meanwhile, crashed by 4 percent just on premarket trading alone, thanks to tumbling sales in China, Cybertruck quality issues, and the BYD charging race.Despite tariffs and trade war escalations, China's global slice of the EV pie is steadily growing. In 2023, China exported 1.7 million EVs to the rest of the world 50 percent more than the next highest exporter, Germany. In August 2024, BYD's global exports more than doubled Tesla's, a lead that's only grown in recent months as protests and Musk fatigue sent Tesla sales into the ground.Holding that leadon exports is going to be a huge factor in deciding whether or not BYD can become a decisive global frontrunner, as it facesfierce resistance from Western policymakers. When it comes to charging infrastructure, BYD's star is currently rising throughout Latin and South America, as well as other corners of the globe, like Europe and the Middle East. While Tesla currently boasts some 65,000 proprietary Superchargers worldwide, BYD drivers can access 800,000 universal charging points throughout Europe alone.One thing's for sure: the electric vehicle market is here to stay. The only question remaining is how the major players carve up their pieces of the pie as the world adjusts to rapid innovations in zero-emissions transit.As it stands, BYD is looking more and more like the gold standard in the EV world while Tesla's US-made cars feel like cheap knockoffs.More on electric vehicles: Man Tests If Tesla Autopilot Will Crash Into Wall Painted to Look Like RoadShare This Article