Tesla launched the European Semi at IAA Transportation in Hannover this week. BYD used the same show to unveil a tractor unit that beats it on almost every headline number — and loses on the one that gets paid for.
What BYD showed
The ETT 44 is a 44-tonne tractor built for Europe, launched alongside a new range of rigids covering 3.5 to 44 tonnes, including a 26-tonne model with swap-body and hooklift variants. The tractor runs a 651 kWh Blade battery on LFP chemistry, warranted for ten years or 1.2 million kilometres.
Drive power is 743 PS, rising to 1,000 PS at peak. Charging is the headline: more than 1.5 MW on the Megawatt Charging System, which BYD says takes the battery from 20% to 80% in at most 20 minutes and restores close to 400 km of range. On a CCS2 connector the truck draws up to 420 kW, and the same 20–80% needs up to an hour.
Against the truck Tesla just launched
| Tesla Semi (Europe) | BYD ETT 44 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rated at | 40 t combination | 44 t combination |
| Range claim | Up to 550 km | Up to 600 km |
| Battery | Not published | 651 kWh LFP |
| Kerb weight | 9,100 kg | 10,950–11,140 kg |
| Peak charging | Up to 800 kW (MCS) | Over 1.5 MW (MCS) |
| Fast-charge claim | ~60% of range in 30 min | 20–80% in 20 min |
| Battery warranty | Not published | 10 years / 1.2 m km |
| European deliveries | Early 2027 | Not stated |
Two cautions before that table is read as a verdict. Neither range figure is a type-approval result; both are manufacturer claims, and electrive notes plainly that such numbers are not directly comparable because operating and test conditions differ. Nor are they quoted at the same mass — Tesla's 550 km is stated at 40 tonnes, as TeslAnt reported when the European specification went official, while BYD has not said what load its 600 km assumes.
The figure that survives the caveats
Kerb weight does, because in haulage it is payload, and payload is revenue. The European Semi weighs 9,100 kg. The ETT 44 weighs between 10,950 and 11,140 kg depending on configuration — roughly 1.9 tonnes more truck before a single pallet is loaded.
Run both in the same 40-tonne combination and Tesla leaves about two tonnes more for trailer and cargo. That is why kerb weight sits at the centre of Tesla's European pitch, and why BYD's answer is the number in its name.
Forty tonnes is the EU baseline for an articulated combination. Zero-emission combinations currently get a two-tonne allowance above it, and the pending revision of the weights and dimensions directive would lift them to 44 tonnes outright. BYD has engineered for the rule that is coming; Tesla has quoted for the one in force.
Both plug into the same socket
The more consequential agreement between these two trucks is the connector. Each charges on MCS rather than a proprietary plug, which means the Megachargers Tesla started selling to European fleets this week are not Tesla-only assets, and a depot that installs one has not committed to a Tesla fleet. On an open standard, BYD's 1.5 MW is a claim on the same infrastructure Tesla is helping to build.
Tesla's remaining advantage is a date. European deliveries start at the beginning of 2027; BYD has not published one at all.