This week has been a big one for Chinese EVs (and therefore the entire EV market) in Australia.
BYD and MG have announced the nation's two new cheapest EVs on sale, separated by only a few hundred dollars. I get that AUD is meaningless for most folks but the relative values tell the story:
(All figures are driveaway pricing for South Australia per manufacturer websites.)
BYD Dolphin 45kWh: $41,100
MG MG4 51kWh: $41,700
There are state-based EV subsidies, ranging from $0 (lol Victoria) to $6000 (Queensland). In SA the subsidy is $3000 so Dolphin comes down to $38,100. MG4 has slightly more claimed range and more powerful motor. BYD has better equipment fit.
Compare...
Tesla Model 3 : $66,400
Hyundai Kona Electric: $58,936
BYD Atto 3 50kWh: $50,600
GWM Ora (Good Cat) 48kWh: $46,900
Toyota Corolla Hybrid: $34,900
Hyundai i30: $26,300-$39,000.
Mazda 3: $34,100-$46,600.
It feels like 2023 is the year when EVs really started to take off in Australia, going from <2% of deliveries to now consistently above 5% (I think monthly peak to date was a little over 7%). China is entrenched in Australia's EV story (87% of all EVs sold here in Q1 came from China) both as manufacturing hub for Tesla and as supplier of most of Australia's more affordable EVs. I can see BYD and MG going from strength to strength here over the next few years. BYD Australia is bringing Seal by the end of the year, another SUV next year, and also an electric ute by end 2024. The latter is going to be huge in terms of establishing mindshare.
With this latest crop of more affordable EVs I think they are now emerging as compelling propositions as vehicles for many applications. The question marks that remain are about long-term reliability and support, brand value feeding into resale value, and also our poor public charging infrastructure, particularly outside the major cities. It is for those reasons that I currently have a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid on order, but this is certainly an exciting journey to watch.
