BYD Launches Second Ro-Ro Ship For NEV Exports

Despite European taxes on imported Chinese EVs, BYD is sticking to its ambition to expand globally and shows no signs of slowing down. The Chinese auto giant recently launched its second BYD-branded ship, "Changzhou," to export thousands of new energy vehicles (NEVs) to Europe.

BYD has easily made the most progress on a worldwide scale over the last three years, boosting the availability of new energy vehicles under numerous brands to new countries across the world.

At the heart of this expansion is an ever-increasing presence in Europe, which existed long before the EU Commission imposed tariffs on those goods. Last January, BYD commissioned the "Explorer No. 1" ship to transport its vehicles to Europe.

By April, the automaker announced that it was exporting so many EVs that it would require additional ships. To speed things up, BYD developed its own vessel, the "Hefei," which we saw in September and can transport up to 7,000 automobiles.

At the same time, BYD was hastily manufacturing a second ship in China called "Changzhou," which has joined the fleet and is en route to Europe with even more NEV imports.

After departing port for delivery on November 29, the Changzhou ship was formally delivered to BYD today, according to Wang Junbao, general manager of the company's Corporate Division, on Weibo. The BYD hired CIMC Raffles, a division of the state-owned China International Marine Containers (CIMC), to build the ship. CIMC also constructed the other two ships in the fleet.

The "ro-ro car carrier" is 199.9 meters long and can transport up to 7,000 automobiles. The name is derived from the Chinese city of Changzhou, where BYD has been producing automobiles since early 2022. The moniker is consistent with the previous ship, Hefei, another city where the business manufactures vehicles.

According to Junbao, the new Changzhou car carrier ship is currently in service, transporting around 5,000 BYD NEVs at Jiangsu province's ports of Lianyungang and Taicang before sailing to Europe.

The Changzhou is BYD's second totally owned ship and the third in its expanding fleet of export ships. In January 2024, BYD stated that it would have seven additional ro-ro vessels in operation in addition to Explorer No. 1 over the next two years, so we may expect to see many more ships make their maiden journeys over the next 13 months.