The old battery sign helps explain the cars
At the museum entrance, a preserved sign reads BYD Battery Co., Ltd. The tour begins with batteries and the story of an industrial operation that expanded into automobiles. Seeing this starting point changes how the vehicles displayed later in the visit are understood.
The visit to BYD in Shenzhen on October 17, 2026 connected three dimensions of that transformation: accumulated component expertise, the size of the workforce and sustained research. The numbers stand out. The exhibits, panels and sequence of products help reveal some of the work behind them.
A capability that opened new possibilities
The early story, in the 1990s, centres on rechargeable batteries. Supplying manufacturers of electronic devices was presented as an important stage. The museum connects that period with the challenges of learning to manufacture, improving processes and serving industrial customers.
BYD entered the automotive sector in 2003 by acquiring Qinchuan Automobile in Xi’an. That milestone appears in both the presentation and BYD’s official timeline. The business required additional capabilities in design, manufacturing, quality, sales and systems integration.
For business owners, this transition offers a useful perspective: a capability developed to solve one problem may open access to other markets. Expansion also brings new tasks. Battery expertise provided a relevant foundation for electrified mobility, while building an automaker required a broader organisation and industrial knowledge.
900,000 employees, with research at the centre of the conversation
One memorable moment involved an employee lookup screen. The presentation cited around 900,000 staff and 120,000 people in research and development. A visitor asked whether the first figure might be 90,000, and the 900,000 figure was repeated.
For a dated public reference, the interim results report lists approximately 911,900 employees as of June 30, 2026. This is a group-wide figure across its operations. It provides context for the order of magnitude presented during the visit. First-half 2026 results, employee section.
The 2025 annual report describes a team of more than 120,000 R&D engineers. The document associates this workforce with its research and development structure. The figure indicates the human resources devoted to research, without establishing the return from any individual project. 2025 annual report, page 26.
The 120,000 figure also appears on a governance panel in the exhibition, with reference to 2025. Managing an organisation of this size involves training people, distributing responsibilities, coordinating projects and retaining knowledge. Smaller companies can start with a more modest task: assigning time, ownership and criteria for continuous learning and product improvement.
The 48,000 patent applications and accumulated knowledge
A wall of certificates gives intellectual property a tangible presence along the route. Interpreting that volume requires separating applications, grants and patents that remain valid.
The 48,000 figure refers to cumulative applications reported by the company in August 2024. The same announcement mentioned more than 30,000 grants. This is a historical snapshot, using categories distinct from the number of patents valid today. Official announcement of August 5, 2024.
A governance panel along the route, with reference to 2025, reports 71,094 cumulative applications worldwide. In the 2025 annual report, the cumulative totals had exceeded 71,000 applications and 42,000 grants. These figures come from a later period than the 48,000-application reference. Intellectual property in the 2025 report, page 26.
The certificates show technical work being documented and protected. Assessing its competitive contribution requires another question: which solutions reach products, improve processes or open new applications? Counting documents provides only one perspective on that effort.
The automobile displayed as a system of components
Near the end of the route, a vehicle is displayed with parts separated and suspended in space. Its body, wheels and internal assemblies become visible beyond the finished exterior. The installation helps illustrate the challenge of coordinating components that must work together.
Battery expertise evolved into specific vehicle technologies. The Blade Battery, launched in 2020 according to the official announcement, is one such milestone. Its introduction came after the entry into automotive manufacturing, as part of development over many years.
Building internal component capabilities can bring engineering, manufacturing and product decisions closer together. It also requires capital, coordination and choices about what to develop internally and what to obtain from partners. The visit offers material for examining those choices; the installation alone establishes neither the origin of every part nor the economics of the entire supply chain.
From research to the experience inside the vehicle
The route also passes a vehicle covered in ice inside a chamber. The scene raises a practical engineering question: how do a car’s systems behave in different environments? The image records the installation shown during the visit, without specifying temperature, duration or test results.
Elsewhere in the visit, the red sports car with an open door, the vehicles outside and the sedan in the showroom bring the industrial story closer to the product experience. Bodywork, cabin access, the steering wheel and controls are points of contact between engineering work and the people using a vehicle.
This connection gives context to the scale of research and intellectual property: accumulated knowledge needs applications and evaluation on its way into an offering. For people developing products, the case invites a closer connection between technical investment, verification and the customer experience.
Technology Pool: preparing options before they are needed
A panel uses the expression Technology Pool and presents a collection of technologies available for application when market demand calls for them. The display gives visual form to the idea of building knowledge and development options over time.
An organisation able to develop a technology must also decide when to incorporate it into a product. That choice depends on maturity, safety, cost, demand and the capacity to deliver at scale. The exhibition presents the company’s account of this technical reserve, without measuring how many of those options become successful products.
For an operating business, the idea can become a practical routine: which capabilities are being built today to reduce a dependency or enable a future offering? The answer must fit available resources while sustaining delivery to current customers.
From early models to millions of new energy vehicles
The route passes an F3 model and reaches a wall of miniature cars. Their variety helps visualise the distance between the early automotive operation and the later portfolio. Each product brings together engineering, manufacturing and commercial positioning.
The milestone of 10 million new energy vehicles produced, mentioned in the conversation, was officially announced on November 18, 2024. This is cumulative production. The NEV category includes battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Announcement of the ten-millionth NEV.
On a different basis, the company reported sales of approximately 4.6 million new energy vehicles in 2025. This is an annual sales flow, distinct from the cumulative production milestone. It helps indicate the position reached within that segment of the industry. BYD’s update published in July 2026.
The story combines development time with expanded commercial and industrial capacity. The totals show the size reached, while the museum reveals part of the sequence of decisions and products along the way.
What the visit offers people who already run a business
The battery origins invite a closer look at capabilities a company already possesses. Knowledge of a process, component, customer type or operation may have value beyond the category in which the business is currently known. Identifying that foundation helps assess possible routes for expansion.
The case also calls for examining the commitments involved. Research requires continuity and evaluation criteria. Industrial integration offers greater scope for control and brings complexity. Growth extends a product’s reach and increases the number of people and processes that must be coordinated.
A practical application is to map three things: the capability that contributes most to current results, the dependency that limits the next step and the learning that deserves investment. This map supports a discussion of expansion grounded in the work required and evidence of demand, alongside ambition.
The time card brings scale back to people
Elsewhere in the museum, a reproduction time card connects visitors with the memory of employees. Shortly before the activity, members of the group discuss the company’s growth over roughly three decades. Visitors then try clocking in. After figures running into hundreds of thousands of people, the gesture is small and tangible.
The battery sign at the entrance and the vehicle components at the end connect two moments in the same story. Between them sit research, manufacturing, people and products. BYD’s transformation gains depth when viewed through this collection of capabilities built over time.