Tesla (TSLA 2.70%) shares look to be heading for a ninth straight week of losses. After a sharp drop yesterday, the stock was down another 4.8% today as of 11:25 a.m. ET. Shares have been plunging as data on global sales have spooked investors.
News out of China today is escalating concerns over Tesla's electric vehicle (EV) sales. It's not related to its increasingly polarizing CEO Elon Musk or to geopolitics this time, though. It seems competitors may be making big strides in two key areas.
Self-driving and charging technology advances
Most of Tesla's Chinese competitors don't come close in sales and production volumes. BYD is the exception. BYD even delivered more battery electric vehicles than Tesla in the fourth quarter. Now the Chinese EV maker is coming out with a fast-charging system that it says can provide 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) of range in only five minutes.
Tesla's fastest Superchargers still need at least 10 minutes to charge an EV. The difference is in BYD's top charging speed. It is double what Tesla offers in its fastest chargers at 1,000 kilowatts.
BYD thinks that offering charging technology that takes about the same time as filling a gasoline engine will accelerate interest in electric vehicles. That could take market share from Tesla in the important Chinese market.
That wasn't the only competitor news impacting Tesla today. Zeekr, owned by Geely Auto, is reportedly offering an advanced driver-assistance system to Chinese customers for free. Tesla charges a monthly fee for its full self-driving technology in the U.S. if customers don't pay for it at the time of the vehicle purchase.
Zeekr's technology is similar to Tesla's if it drives a vehicle almost fully autonomously from one set location to another, as reported. That free system could steer more Chinese customers away from Tesla.
NASDAQ: TSLA
Key Data Points
The China market is key for Tesla
Tesla needs the Chinese market to grow sales. It isn't just facing more volume of competition now -- it is facing equal or possibly better technologies. That could spell even more trouble for Tesla shares.
