China’s wave of low-cost EVs is leaving behind more famous brands

IDEA: If you want an affordable electric car in Australia, chances are you’re looking for something from an up-and-coming Chinese brand, or at least made there.

It’s a huge shift no matter how you turn it around, and reflects China’s dominance in global electric vehicle sales and across the broader supply chain as a whole.

Australia’s EV penetration hits one monthly record of 4.4% in Augustlow by global standards, but shows a growing demand for zero-emission vehicles.

The fact that the newly-marketed Chinese nameplates are currently supplying – or will soon provide – the local market with an over-indexed percentage of electric vehicles is an indictment of so-called brands. ‘inheritance’ has not kept up times.

Take the MG, owned by SAIC Motor from Shanghai. It’s just been updated MG ZS is the cheapest EV in Australia at $44,990 to driveThe same price range as a mid- to high-end petrol small SUV from Japanese, Korean and European brands.

That’s about the same price as the pre-upgrade MG ZS EV, which was the best-selling non-Tesla EV in Australia last year. That is despite receiving a new design, more range and added technology. The first batch of 2000 units won’t last long.

MG will expand its range in early 2023 when Launch of the MG 4 hatch, shortly after it reached the shores of Europe (cargo ships had already arrived). This is a brand new product that costs around $40k based on what it costs compared to the overseas ZS EV.

It also gives thousands of wall box chargers For hotels, it’s nothing if not clever marketing.

Then we have BYD, another Chinese ‘new energy’ power of which Warren Buffett is a shareholder. Its Atto 3 EV is as cheap as the MG, and has thousands of them come and reach customers now, albeit with some teething problems.

I actually have an Atto 3 pressed car in my driveway right now.

BYD plans to expand its fleet with the cheaper, shorter-range Atto 3 before the end of the year and will add two more models – Seal sedan and small hatch Dolphinname change pending – in 2023.

Its local distributor says there is a production line for right-hand drive just for us, with huge output potential.

From there, we turn to GWM, which stands for Great Wall Motor, which sold the GWM mun and its GWM Haval SUVs here. In 2023, it will launch the GWM Ora brand, which, like MG and BYD are also now entering Europe.

The The first GWM Ora EV will be a weirdly cute little hatchback called the Good Cat, with at least one right-hand drive series production model was in Melbourne to assess the market before commencing sales.

Three new Chinese brands, all launching contextual low-cost electric vehicles on a massive scale – something some of the entry-level legacy brands have been able to do in Australia so far.

In addition to Chinese brands, there is also the issue of China’s dominance in electric vehicle production. Bestseller Tesla Model 3 and Model Y sold here are all sourced from Shanghai and Polestar 2 growing in momentum, made in Zhejiang.

Combine this with leading Australian legacy brands. Toyota Won’t Launch Its First EV, Problem Happened bZ4Xuntil 2023 at sky-high prices. Mazda sells MX-30 EV, but it costs $70,000 on the road and has a meager 224 km range on a generous ADR cycle.

Mitsubishi no EV due to its PHEV focus, nor Ford since it The E-Transit van has been delayed to 2023 and Mustang Mach-E is still an absence. Volkswagen won’t launch its first EV here until late 2023 at the earliest, though Cupra the brand will sell the Born EV sooner.

Subaru will launch a twin version of the Toyota bZ4X next year called Solterra, but based on what we’ve heard from Big T, it’s going to be expensive and in limited supply. Medium volume brand Suzuki and Honda’s motobike similarly, there will be no EV in the short to medium term future.

Hyundai and That are better represented, with the Kona and Niro respectively available at affordable prices, although they are still more expensive than the MG ZS and BYD Atto 3.

The pair’s stunning Ioniq 5 and EV6 are in the upper tier – but held back by a super-scarce supply that makes them niche sellers despite customer demand.

Nissan to its credit sold the (old) Leaf, but has yet to get the newer Ariya EV crossover. There’s also no definite timeline we’ve seen for a local rollout as other regions have a higher priority.

Premium brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are doing better, but if we want serious EV penetration then the top 10 brands (about 70% of the market) need to do the job. heavy. And honestly, they don’t.

While familiar car brands say they need binding emissions targets to help them lobby for electric vehicle shares from overseas factories and reduce domestic electric vehicle prices to balance the playing field. play, then the relative startups from China have conspired and distributed the product on a large scale, with affordable cards.

It doesn’t matter how you rotate it, the set of established brands is being made to look sluggish.

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