Thread

BYD Slashes Price of Electric Car and Becomes Cheapest in Australia [video]

63 points · 106 comments · thelastgallon

motionlessveloc · 1789882148 · focus · HN ↗
Non-video story: <a href="https://thedriven.io/2026/09/16/australias-cheapest-new-car-is-now-an-electric-car-and-byds-stunning-move-will-change-the-conversation-about-evs/" rel="nofollow">https://thedriven.io/2026/09/16/australias-cheapest-new-car-...
TL;DR: AUD 19,900 driveway (means taxes, registration etc included), or about US$14k. The main limitation is the 220 km (135 mi) range, which is fine for a city runabout but not great for road tripping.
1. Raed667 · 1789883125 · focus · HN ↗
  That's an insane price and the range is fine for the daily needs of the large majority of people.
  €12k in France (where i am) can't get you any new car, even the cheapest ICE Dacia is more expensive than that now.
  1. chvid · 1789883354 · focus · HN ↗
    The BYD is sold in Europe but there is higher VAT and a special EU Chinese car import tax - so these cars are about 20k euro.
    There is also the Renault Twingo which is in the same class.
    Raed667 · 1789883597 · focus · HN ↗
    I checked the Twingo and it is starting at €16k and an Opel Corsa (without any options) is more than €19k
    pantalaimon · 1789883701 · focus · HN ↗
    The tax is only on electric cars, vehicles with a combustion engine are excempt - that's why you see all those ads for BYD Hybrids now.
    drcongo · 1789904874 · focus · HN ↗
    Elsewhere in the thread you claim there are no BYD cars in the EU, yet here you're an expert on the taxes BYD pays in the EU.
  2. Nursie · 1789883407 · focus · HN ↗
    Australia doesn’t tariff Chinese car imports, on account of no longer having any car industry of our own to defend.
    That said we do still have a hefty “luxury car tax” for anything over $80k, which is a hangover from when there was an industry here. The government aren’t going to lift that any time soon.
    Its current function is to select for expensive trucks over expensive sedans, because trucks are “commercial” and exempt, making our roads less safe overall. Thanks government.
    mnsc · 1789883974 · focus · HN ↗
    So you are saying that there's a widespread problem with people looking to buy a car for $100k but realizing there's a $6k tax they go, "I can't afford that" and instead buy a unsafe truck?
    hirsto · 1789884672 · focus · HN ↗
    Taxes change purchase behaviour. The luxury car tax is a tax on personal vehicles so they're saying its pushing people towards buying via business
    nujabe · 1789884976 · focus · HN ↗
    Seems like the luxury tax is 33%..
    Nursie · 1789885516 · focus · HN ↗
    It certainly forms part of the picture.
    Another part of the picture is that you can more often get away with buying a truck “for business” if you’re a small business-person, regardless of whether it actually ends up being used for that.
    And by ‘unsafe’ I mean for pedestrians and they contribute to the vehicle-size arms race on the roads, they’re generally very safe for the occupants.
    seanmcdirmid · 1789924694 · focus · HN ↗
    $80k AUD isn’t far off from the American average car price, so I can see it being a reverse incentive for people at the boundary if the tax isn't graduated in.
  3. numpad0 · 1789951383 · focus · HN ↗
    200k in JPY is like minivan and entry level hybrid prices. Something must be broken about the Western economy.

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