BYD Han arrives in Australia

The all-electric BYD Han luxury sedan has landed in Sydney as the Chinese manufacturer works on a case to mount an aggressive attack on the Australian market.

The Han has not yet received homologation approval from Australian authorities, and the company remains silent on right-hand drive availability.

However, BYD Australia and New Zealand has taken to social media to herald the arrival of a left-hand drive version of the BYD Han in Sydney in recent days, and its local partner Nexport claims that more information will be revealed next week.

As carsales has reported, BYD intends to sell its electric vehicles direct to consumers rather than via a dealer network.

Nexport announced in October last year that it was planning to build a new production facility at Moss Vale in New South Wales to build electrified BYD cars, trucks and buses, but it could take up to five years for local production to be fully up and running.

The only BYD vehicles to be certified under Australian regulations at this stage are K9 and D9 buses and the ageing E6 compact crossover that was homologated in 2016. Nexport runs a fleet of BYD E6 taxis under the business name Etaxico.

Apart from the BYD Han, models that could be under consideration for import to Australia include the BYD Tang and BYD Song Plus SUVs.

The Han is the image-leading hero model with which BYD plans to launch its assault on the local market, featuring a 180kW electric powertrain that the manufacturer claims can send the Tesla Model S rival from 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

At the Han’s launch in July 2020, BYD boasted that the sedan is “China’s fastest EV in production” while a plug-in hybrid version, which is said to be capable of reaching 100km/h in 4.7sec, is billed as “the country’s fastest hybrid sedan”.

In proclaiming its arrival in Australia, BYD Australia said: “Integrating the most advanced technologies in the electric vehicle industry, the Han boasts formidable performance combined with stylish craftsmanship.”

BYD claims a 605km range (NEDC) for the all-wheel drive Han, which uses a lithium-iron phosphate ‘blade’ battery.

The PHEV version reportedly offers 81km of pure-electric range and more than 800km all up.

As well as high-tech powertrains, the BYD Han has plenty of advanced driver assist safety technology on board including adaptive cruise control with stop and go, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning and traffic sign identification.

Various other systems such as automatic parking are available, and 11 airbags and six cameras are also fitted standard.