BYD's Building Boats Now? Hold My Electric Beer

Image Credit: BYD.

Why am I writing about boats in the car section? Well, it seems BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer that's been making tsunami-sized waves (pun intended, naturally) in the car world, has decided to, shall we say, "expand its horizons." Not content with just making cars, batteries, and owning lithium mines, they've now gone and built themselves a fleet of car-carrying ships. Yes, ships! As if the roads weren't crowded enough with their electric contraptions, they're now taking to the high seas.

There's a very good reason for their actions, this isn't just a whim, mind you. They're aiming for a fleet of eight of these behemoths by the beginning of next year. One might wonder if they're planning a full-scale invasion of electric vehicles on unsuspecting nations. Perhaps they'll sneak up on the coast under the cover of darkness and unleash hordes of silent, battery-powered cars onto the streets before anyone knows what's happening.

Their latest vessel, christened the "BYD Hefei" (catchy, isn't it?), is a bit of a beast. It's a ro-ro vessel, which, for those not versed in nautical jargon, stands for roll-on/roll-off. Basically, it's a giant floating parking garage with ramps, allowing cars to be driven on and off with the grace of a gazelle... or perhaps more like a slightly inebriated rhinoceros. Either way, it's a pretty efficient way to move a lot of cars around.

Image Credit: BYD.

This "Hefei" thingamajig measures 656 feet in length and 125 feet in width, with a draft of 29.5 feet. That's longer than a football field and wider than a basketball court, just to give you an idea of the scale of this floating monstrosity. It can apparently carry around 7,000 cars, and that answers the question of why BYD would want to have its own EV transporter.

This maritime marvel can reach a top speed of 18.5 knots, which translates to about 21 miles per hour for us landlubbers. Not exactly breaking the sound barrier, but when you're carrying 7,000 potential fire hazards (I'm kidding... mostly), it's probably best not to rush things. And it's actually quite fast for this size of a vessel.

So, "Why is BYD bothering with all this nautical nonsense?" Well, it turns out they're rather keen on global domination... I mean, expansion. Their EV exports have skyrocketed by over 70% in the past year, accounting for about 10% of their total sales. The only bottleneck neck they faced was timely transport. And since no company could deliver as many cars as BYD wanted, they decided that building a fleet of ships was the best course.

Item Credit: BYD.

Of course, this whole shipbuilding venture raises a few questions. Are these ships powered by electricity? No, they aren't. It's actually quite ironic that they are spewing tons of diesel fumes while carrying thousands of zero-emission vehicles. What about the environmental impact of these massive vessels plowing through the oceans? That's a high price to pay for apparently saving the planet. Hopefully, BYD has considered these things and has some eco-friendly solutions up its sleeve.

In any case, it's clear that BYD is taking its global ambitions seriously. Rather than dipping their toes in the water, they're diving headfirst into the deep end, with a fleet of car carriers. With every ship taking about 30 days to travel from China to Europe and eight of them constantly cruising back and forth, we'll see regular deliveries of BYD-made EVs every fortnight. And this is just the beginning.