BYD News

Could Australia’s EV wars be about to hit another major milestone?

Chinese brand BYD is set to take on Australia's sizeable off-road market, with the Denza B5 set for right-hand drive production, clearing the way for its expected Australian launch.

The all-new Toyota Prado has taken Australia's 4WD market by storm, with pent-up demand for a new model delivering some 17,000 orders by the end of 2024, with the brand anticipating some 27,000 deliveries in its first 12 months of sale.

Following its 2025 pricing cull, BYD has chopped the entry price to its Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid range. The family SUV now starts in Essential trim, with the old Dynamic grade dropped entirely, from $42,990 before on-road costs. This cements its position as Australia’s cheapest plug-in hybrid — the price battle is getting bloody. Compared to rivals, it is very sharply priced. The most popular vehicle in the segment, the Toyota RAV4, starts at $42,260 before on-road costs in plugless hybrid guise while the most affordable Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is the ES at $57,290, before on-road costs. BYD says the new Essential is targeting fleet customers mainly and it does lose some equipment.Inside, there’s no 360-degree camera, auto-dimming mirror, insulated front door glass, seat heating and ventilation, metal sill protectors, mood lighting or wireless phone charging.The touchscreen is smaller (but still generous) at 12.8 inches and the speaker count falls from 10 to six. The driver’s seat is still power adjustable but only six ways, not eight. The Sealion 6 Essential still features two-tone brown synthetic leather upholstery, 19-inch alloy wheels, LED lighting and keyless entry. Under the bonnet is the same plug-in hybrid system based around a 1.5-litre petrol engine. It drives the front wheels only with a total power output of 160kW, for a 0-100km/h sprint in 8.5 seconds. The 18.3kWh ‘Blade’ battery remains, giving around 80km of electric-only driving range and total full-empty distance of 1000km plus, says BYD, if you can achieve the 1.1L/100km rating. A five-star ANCAP safety rating covers all Sealion 6 trims. It is currently advantageous to purchase a plug-in hybrid as it is considered a low-emissions vehicle, making them much more affordable to finance thanks to the FBT exemption. This will change on 1 April 2025 and may impact PHEV sales. Since its release in May 2024, though, the Sealion 6 has proven popular, with 6198 finding homes. BYD is on a product offensive in 2025, rolling out a new Sealion 7 electric model and introducing Australia’s first plug-in hybrid ute, the Shark 6. 

Over the weekend, Chinese car making BYD made a big statement. It revealed a new pair of flagship vehicles in its Dynasty series, the Tang L SUV and Han L sedan. Dubbed “Chinese culture carriers” by their maker, the two five-metre-long plus models show what BYD can do with luxury trimmings and with up to 810kW on offer they are thrusting to be chosen over a Tesla Model S, Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz EQS or BMW iX.The new Han sedan is a clear continuation of its predecessor with Model S-like dimensions. There’s more intricate detailing on the bonnet and down the flanks, while the alloy wheels and lighting signatures are both new.The Tang, a large three-row SUV that previously targeted the Kia EV9, steps upmarket big time. A new grille-free front end, tiny LED headlights and more imposing profile give it enhanced visual presence. Both models have a roof-mounted Lidar pod. Under the lead of designer Wolfgang Egger — credited with the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 8C supercar — the Han and Tang L share BYD’s new ‘Loong Face’ and chrome ‘Dragon Moustache’ details. Inside there's a big central touchscreens next to a digital driver’s display. The Tang and Han's clean cabin layout is more mature than the BYD products we currently get in Australia and shows evolution. The electric and plug-in hybrid systems are the most impressive parts, and we don’t even know driving ranges yet. An entry-level rear-wheel drive electric version of the Tang and Han L is available with a 500kW electric motor. There are two plug-in hybrid options. The DM-i combines a 115kW 1.5-litre petrol and 200kW electric motor, presumably with 1000km or more driving range. A punchier variant is available with a second 200kW electric motor, called the DM-p. But the most impressive specification is the 810kW all-wheel-drive flagship, with its 580kW rear electric motor spinning to 30,000rpm, BYD claims it is the second most powerful electric motor after the Koenigsegg Gemera. Yet pricing for the Tang and Han in China is expected to start at a reasonable 300,000 yuan, equivalent to A$66,000.BYD is gearing up for a big 2025, first launching the Sealion 7 all-electric Tesla Model Y rival, while deliveries of its Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute are kicking off in earnest. CarsGuide has contacted BYD to find out whether the Tang L and Han L are on the radar. This story will be updated if we receive any updates.It might be prudent to offer them, despite being niche, with rival Chinese brand MG having an 800km-plus electric car with active suspension in its sights. For now, BYD continues to go from strength to strength, selling 4.27 million cars last year, of which 433,000 were exports. A little more than 20,000 of those made it to Australia and the brand is looking to double sales again this year. 

BYD is opening a new battlefront with fierce rival Tesla in 2025. The Chinese company will roll out its advanced autonomous driving technology to compete with Tesla’s Autopilot features to all its vehicles.

CarsGuide’s analytics team has unearthed exclusive data sourced from Gumtree, CarsGuide and Autotrader listings, which shows the second-hand electric vehicle market is primed for buyers with prices dropping significantly over two years.There’s a lot of talk about how cheap new electric cars are getting, and sure the prices are coming down, the BYD Dolphin Essential is the cheapest in Australia at $29,990 (before on-road costs). New electric cars are still on the pricey side, though, and you won’t find many new EVs under the $50,000 mark. Tesla is the most popular electric car brand in Australia, but entry into a new Model Y SUV costs $55,900 and a Model 3 starts at $54,900.  Hyundai’s Kona Electric Kona lists for $54,000 at its most affordable, the Zeekr X is $56,900 for the base car, while the cheapest Volvo EX30 is $59,990.But what about a second-hand Tesla or any used EV? And are there more used EVs available these days?We put the question to our analytics team: has the number of listings and the median price changed over the course of the past two years? We asked the team to concentrate on seven models: the BYD Atto 3, Hyundai Kona Electric, MG ZS EV, Nissan Leaf, and the Teslas — Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X.Those particular models were chosen not just for their popularity but also being established here for longer. The Nissan Leaf hatch has been on sale in Australia for 10 years, the Tesla Model S sedan first arrived in 2017 as did the Model X large SUV, while the Model 3 appeared in 2019 and went on to become not just the most popular EV, but one of the most bought cars in Australia. Hyundai’s Kona’s Electric small SUV quietly slipped into Australia in 2019, too. MG’s ZS EV SUV 2020 arrival signalled the start of the Chinese electric wave we’re currently riding. Tesla’s highly anticipated Model Y mid-sized SUV stole the EV show in 2022, followed by the BYD Atto 3 in 2023.The data revealed that the Tesla Model 3 is the most listed used electric car with a total of 7795 live listings over a reporting period starting on January 1 2023 and ending December 1, 2024. The Nissan Leaf is the second most listed used EV with a total of 5633 listed during those 24 months. Third place for listings was the MG ZS EV with 5352. The Hyundai Kona Electric was next with 3045, while there were 1937 listings for the Tesla Model Y.The number of live used listings increased for the Atto 3, Kona Electric, MG ZS EV, but stayed static for the Teslas. We could speculate that used Tesla Model 3s and Ys generally sell faster and therefore don’t accumulate to the degree the others, but further data analysis is needed.  Overall the number of used EVs listed fell from 1148 live listings on January 1 2023 to 746 in December 1, 2024, but during this time live listings rose and peaked at 1643 on March 1, 2024. That made the 12 months from January 2023 to January 2024 a time when the largest number of used EVs were consistently listed before falling to current levels of about 800 total live listings month in and out.The big takeaway is not just how many cars were listed but that the median listing price decreased for all models for the 24 months.The median listing price for the Tesla Model 3 in January 2023 was $65,990, but by December 2024 it was $46,705. Likewise for the Model Y the median listing price in January 2023 was $79,950 and by December 2024 it was $53,987.The BYD Atto 3 despite only being on the market since 2023 saw its median used car price fall dramatically, too, from $51,500 to $36,990 over the two-year reporting period. The MG ZS EV wasn’t immune to the median listing price fall either, starting at $48,071 in January 2023 and ending at $34,300 in December 2024. The most affordable used EV was the oldest — the Nissan Leaf — with a median price of $33,990 that fell to $22,990 over the two years.Only the Kona Electric, which started at $29,800, saw prices fall then increase to $37,300 off the back of the second generation model arriving in January 2024, then fall again to $34,490 by the end of that year.As for the Tesla Model S and X, both also started with higher median listing prices and fell over the 24 months. Both are older models and now available to buy new. Still, if you’re into this kind of thing the data is fascinating with the median listing price of the Model X being $129,990 and dropping to $75,800 after the two years. A bargain considering the Model X listed for $272K when it debuted here in 2017. But would you want an electric car that’s almost a decade old? Well, that’s another story and not the point of this report. Here we just wanted to present the real data from our own analytics team to help give you a better insight into both buying a second hand EV and maybe even help you manage your expectations when selling an EV.     

Three years ago, very few Australians knew what BYD was. Now, it is fast becoming a household name.

Just days after BYD's local division announced a new entry-level Atto 3 Essential grade, the brand has previewed a redesigned model in its home market.

BYD will launch a brand new sports car with Porsche 911-rivalling performance at the Shanghai auto show later this year under its luxury sub-brand Denza, according to CarNewsChina.