BYD’s Wang Chuanfu Could Be China’s Version of Henry Ford

At the headquarters of BYD Co. in Shenzhen, there’s a wall crammed floor to ceiling with about a thousand framed patents representing more than 30,000 innovations the electric-vehicle maker’s billionaire founder, Wang Chuanfu, and his army of engineers have devised.

A wall displays patent certifications held by BYD in an exhibition area at the company’s headquarters in Shenzhen.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The patents—for breakthroughs such as the low-cost lithium-iron-phosphate battery that’s also used by rivals including Ford, Tesla and even Toyota—are among the invisible assets turning Wang’s company into the world’s biggest EV maker. After selling 3 million electric and hybrid vehicles in 2023 and logging $85 billion in revenue, it’s on course to overtake Tesla Inc. ...