Chinese giant brings first EV for under $30,000 to Australia

The first electric vehicle priced under $30,000 is now on sale in Australia, with a stripped-back version of the Dolphin vehicle from Chinese carmaker BYD heading a growing list of lower-cost clean cars for Australia.

The federal government has been counting on a rapid uptake of electric vehicles to bring down Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions but been frustrated by minimal sales growth last year as the cost of living bites.

BYD’s decision to sell its cut-price Dolphin in Australia, which is $7000 cheaper than the standard model, coincides with the government’s clean finance agency committing $50 million to cheaper loans for electric vehicle buyers.

A new “essentials” range of the BYD Dolphin hatchback will retail for $29,990 plus on-road costs. Credit: Bloomberg

EVDirect, the Australian importer of BYD, China’s best-selling electric car brand, said Australia was an important market for the global powerhouse amid recent tariff hikes on Chinese imports in the US.

“Our objective is to support Australian consumers in the cost-of-living crisis and to help Australians in the transition to the new world of electric vehicles,” said EVDirect chief executive David Smitherman.

President Joe Biden last year quadrupled tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars to 100 per cent. President-elect Donald Trump has said he could increase imposts to 200 per cent on his return to the White House to protect the US industry from cheaper imports, which would make the US a less attractive market for Chinese carmakers compared to other destinations such as Australia.

BYD also announced this week it would bring a new electric SUV, the Sealion 7, to Australia from mid-February to sell for a price under $60,000, which sets it up as a direct rival for the popular Tesla Y.

Smitherman also said to “stay tuned” for another announcement on BYD Australia by Monday.

“We want to make sure we offer a really compelling proposition for the average Aussie,” he said.

The “essentials” range is now open to orders expected to be delivered in Australia from March. The Dolphin is listed at $29,990 plus on-road costs, and models of the basic version of the Atto 3 sport utility vehicle start at $39,990 plus on-road costs.

Compared to the standard version of these vehicles, the cheaper models come without a panoramic sunroof, heated seats, wireless phone charger or data plans. However, the Atto 3 and the Dolphin come with the same battery, with a listed driving range of around 350 kilometres.

Previously, the cheapest EV on sale in Australia was the MG4 at $30,990 drive away, but that price was temporary and the car typically retails at around $38,000.

The first deliveries of BYD’s plug-in hybrid electric ute, the Shark 6, will start next week, with the company reporting strong sales of 5500 placed on order to date.

BYD’s cheap EV coincides with a new round of government-backed cheap loans for EV buyers, which will cut one per cent from the standard interest rate on repayments offered by non-bank lender MetroEco.

The government’s green bank, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, has committed $50 million to MetroEco’s funding pool, which it said would mean customers could save $1700 over five years on a $60,000 loan.

A previous round of this financing arrangement, which kicked off in July last year, delivered around 4000 loans for EV buyers by December.

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