BYD to launch three sub-$35K EVs in Australia soon

The Australian distributor for Chinese EV brand BYD says it will deliver three sub-$35,000 vehicles to market over the next nine months, in what is being described as a breakthrough moment for the electric vehicle movement in this country.

TrueGreen Mobility, which has launched a “direct to consumer” model with BYD in Australia, says the first of the sub-$35,000 trio will arrive in September in the form of the 2021 BYD T3 – a commercial van aimed at fleets and urban delivery businesses.

The T3 will be followed early next year by the all-new BYD EA1 hatch shown at the recent Shanghai motor show, and a yet-to-be revealed Yuan Plus compact SUV, the design for which was previewed by the near-production BYD X DREAM concept also unveiled in Shanghai.

Both the hatch and SUV will also be priced below $35,000 and deliver a driving range of about 500km.

Customer orders are due to open in August this year, with first deliveries slated for March 2022.

There is no move at this stage to offer the BYD Han, despite local promotional activity with the sleek electric luxury sedan that lobbed earlier this year, however a passenger version of the BYD T3 is in the works, likely to land around 2023.

TrueGreen Mobility chief executive Luke Todd believes the trio of new EVs that should all be on sale by the end of the first quarter of 2022 will help drive a huge spike in demand for electric vehicles in Australia.

“We see the uptake quickly moving from [less than] one per cent [of total new vehicle sales] to 5-10 per cent – aligning with the UK within the next 12 to 18 months,” Todd told carsales.

“I think people will be very surprised with how quickly this transitions. There is so much pent-up demand from consumers, industry, fleets and businesses that we’re going to see a shift happen very quickly.”

Todd said the EV take-up will be accelerated irrespective of government incentives and grants, and he’s adamant that EVs need to compete with internal combustion cars on a like-for-like basis – in terms of pricing, range, performance and packaging.

Todd also said he’d struck a deal with Brisbane-based EV rapid-charging manufacturer Tritium that should see an aggressive rollout of more EV charging stations across the country.

Last week, Tritium announced plans to list on the NASDAQ exchange in the US, expanding the global business that has already seen it become the world’s second-biggest fast-charging unit supplier.

TrueGreen Mobility hopes to be firmly embedded in Australia’s transition to large-scale EV sales. The company’s Nexport offshoot recently announced an order of 3000 vehicles to Australian technology firm Splend, which will supply vehicles to Uber and delivery drivers nationally.

Todd explained volume capacity wouldn’t stop there, either.

“The deal with Splend – taking 3000 units next year from us – is Australia’s largest EV deal to date,” he said.

“We have capabilities 10-fold that. We could import more than 30,000 vehicles into Australia annually – we have as much production capability as demand requires.”

According to Todd, BYD’s sub-$35,000 price point in Australia is a direct result of its online sales platform, which totally cuts dealers out of the sales process.

He said the online model saved as much as 30 per cent on a vehicle’s retail price, and took away many unnecessary touch points in the transition from factory to driveway.

“There are no dealerships, it’s one of our own entities that we’ve created to provide a factory-direct process,” he said.

“Dealerships are old-fashioned; people want to buy cars without a salesman looking over their shoulder – and there isn’t a car salesman in our entire business.

“The money we save in not having fancy vehicles and infrastructure is a key reason we can sell EVs at those prices. We’ll be having an experience centre in the coming months, you’ll start to see cars in shopping centres, airports, places where people are moving around. Having the opportunity to see, touch a vehicle.

“We’ve got some big announcements coming soon about our test drive program. It will be a convenient door-to-door program.”

On top of all this, Todd said plans were on track for BYD’s 92-hectare production facility in Moss Vale, south of Sydney.

Although there isn’t a clear timeline yet for when it will be up and running, Todd claims the facility will manufacture electric trucks and buses, and will also be home to an Australian R&D centre that will operate as a sister facility for BYD’s Shenzhen manufacturing facility in China.

“We will ensure our vehicles are suitable for Australian conditions thanks to the R&D centre,” he said.

“Moss Vale will be our real hub here in Australia. We will have offices in Sydney, but the heart of our development and manufacturing will be in Moss Vale.”

Related: BYD electric cars due in Australia early 2021
Related: BYD Han arrives in Australia