BYD's cheapest electric vehicles. Orders open Monday 13th January for March delivery, confirmed by most major car news websites. Competitive cars for the price.
Range for these models is the same as the current base models. 340km Dolphin and 345km Atto 3. Very competitive options for urban drivers.
How long will legacy car makers continue to rely on loyalty before having to put prices down instead of increasing prices every year?
It's a new grade which is much cheaper.
I see, was wondering where does the essential model came from….
Good to see BYD bring lower spec electirc cars with more appealing value. their pricing was quite arrogant on launch.
as wondering where does the essential model came from….
China
Wernt they like 50k vs 70k teslas at launch? Hows that arrogant?
@niggardly: The RRP of Atto 3 was $28k in China. So it is very arrogant when they trying to sell it $48k at launch and still not humble with this $39.99k discounted price when the RRP in China has dropped to $26k
@Tythefly86: Am I a legacy media brainwashed sheep if I own a BYD PHEV? Please… validate my purchase, I need your approval.
@Tythefly86: Depreciation means very little when you intend to run the car until it is more cost effective to buy a new one over maintaining the old one.
@catbin: While there's always going to be markups, the shipping and storage fees for vehicles is obviously more than basically any other products, so they're always going to be way more than they are in their local country. Add in taxes and what not too, it's probably not that far fetched. I'm no expert by any means, but top line it's a pretty costly endeavour to sell vehicles to another country.
@catbin: Tesla is arrogant to charge premium when UBS engineers fund that BYC Seal has top engineering & 15% better value than comparable Tesla, 30% better than any EU producer. The additional cost of selling in AU which has different standards:
- Upgrade for the additional AU requirements (our US style mentality brings too many 4WD/UTEs that increase the safety of the others) & we all have to pay the extra cost for the selfish rich that don't care for others + our Govts protect only the rich :( more airbags, ADAS, AEB, lane warnings, structural changes, etc
- other consumer preferences that add to the cost of modifications + we drive on the wrong side of the road ;)
- shipping & logistics costs. Import duties & Taxes. Compliance, Dealer margins & distribution, Currency exchange fluctuations, …
@taki: BYD is made in China aren’t they? Just like Toyota making cars in Thailand and Tesla making cars in China. Aren’t they suppose to have higher cost selling in Australia? As far as I know Thailand is further away in voyage distance. Are their cars having the AUD price tags 40%-50% more expensive than in their home countries or country of origin?
Sales cost plus shipping of any car is less than 10% of the car’s total price. Inflating 50% in the excuse of sales cost makes no sense. Do the sales person get paid $10k bonus for every car they sell?
@niggardly: should you have any idea how much these were sold in China, you would know what I meant.
the price increase was like 10-20% for Teslas, as conversion rate changes.
but for BYD, it was like 40% more at least.
I wouldn't say a word if they aim at luxury segment
@HD9990: Just 10% GST no other tariffs + transport/shipping over to here + dealer network and servicing center costs + local labor and sales staff and a much much smaller market vs China, US or Europe.
@niggardly: not comparable.
for virtual services it's purely pricing discrimination. they just charge whatever they worked out to earn most.
for physical products they have to actually produce the items by different local regulations.
It's the RRP of new models in the respective range.
To hit the lower price, the Dolphin Essential deletes the outgoing Dynamic's panoramic glass roof, power-folding mirrors, wireless phone charging, heated front seats, privacy glass, and a phone key function.
Against the previous Standard grade, the Atto 3 Essential swaps 18-inch wheels for 17s, a 15.6-inch touchscreen for a 12.8-inch display, an eight-speaker stereo for a six-speaker system, and a blue/black interior for a single-tone black cabin.
It also removes a panoramic sunroof, power tailgate, roof rails, heated front seats, LED rear-side reading lights, and a 'music rhythm' function for the ambient interior lighting system.
Also removes the app connectivity.
From: https://www.drive.com.au/news/byd-launches-first-sub-30k-ev/
The fact you're getting upvoted and think the below items will save them $500, it's amazing:
panoramic sunroof, power tailgate, roof rails, heated front seats, LED rear-side reading lights
Let alone the other features…
I get this website has a hard on for Toyota and hating on China (ironic because >50% of the stuff you use are made there), but try being geuine.
@tightm8: Oh, honestly that's my bad, I missed the bottom sentence split out as its own paragraph. Panoramic sunroof probably costs quite a bit, maybe $1000-$2000.
So yeah I'd like to correct my random claim to ~$2000 drop from competition.
You can't even replace sunroof rails for $500, let alone the rest of the sunroof, let alone the rest of the deletes
@XabiFernando: Retail costs are different from BOM costs, and they're talking about the cost to BYD.
BYD Dolphine Essential goes up against Corolla base grade. It just about same size too as the sedan and Corolla is $36k
Inside it's larger than Corolla. The smaller (my favourite for value) BYD Seagull (aka Mini Lamborgini, Dolphin Mini/Q…) is the size of Yaris & inside as Corolla.
Sounds like its pitched at fleet sales, especially for government.
Too cheap for fleet. This is targeted at Aus government wanting to offer more loans to consumers for a second family car. The Clean Energy Finance body can't get consumers to sign up. The second family car is more likely to be second hand ICE or a new micro-box that gets thrown away after 7 years.
Biggest driver for fleet is local servicing and spares. If your vehicle is not doing work, it's costing you money.
After that it's keeping the drivers happy. The Karen middle aged fleet manager wants all the optional extra trim packages because it makes the resale price higher after 3 years, meaning the assets depreciate slower. The staff are more likely to take it the nice fit out EV instead of the diesel twin cab ute, which reduces overall fleet emissions so the company gets tax credits.
That is a big spec-downgrade, I reckon the discount should be more for the spec.
Dolphin never had the phone key function, neither did the Atto3.
Only the seal and sea lion have it.
These are all upgrades, not downgrades. At this rate the perfect electric car will be $20,000, free of all the bullshit.
Has it ever been cold enough anywhere in this country for anyone to ever use these?
Alright I am a bit upset I won't be able to carry a jetski on the roof or whatever people do but I get more than enough power tailgating on the M1 at rush hour anyway.
Without trying to sound magnanimous, I reckon you're dead right Rexy!
These are all upgrades
Yeah, it looks like they just learned from listening to Australians what silly crap they shouldn't have put in to start with, and took it out. Glass roofs and heated seats, in Australia!
I use the heated seats in the Seal a fair bit in ‘winter’ as it’s quicker and more efficient than heating up with the AC. (SEQ winter lol)
Ditching all the other stuff makes sense though.
Heated seats are also great if you have back issues
roof rails
So no roof racks can be mounted? Deal breaker for me.
Same. I have racks on my current old car and the clamp into the door jam. I'd never ever do it to a nice car.
I've got a car with no roof rails, and with Thule roof racks. No problems. Its a problem roof rack makers solved long ago. Though I suspect roof rails would allow a higher load rating.
If there the wheels are smaller, the range of the vehicle should actually go up. This is a positive in my eyes.
3nm wheels for near infinite range
This is ozbargain not ozdiscount
BYO Dolphin Essential
What if you don't have a dolphin?
Then that's what you buy. BYD are setting the standard that it's essential to have a dolphin. You've got to buy one now.
The Chinese Secret Police will take you away and make you drive an electric car, eat tofu and do taichi.
"B" is short for Build, so you need to build a Dolphin.
That's BAD
BYD = Build Your Dolphin
I thought it was Burn Your Dollars?
damn, only have a porpoise.
It's always good to have a porpoise in life.
You can always reporpoise your dolphin.
PYD - Porpoise Your Dolphin
this may be the first jv comment to make me laugh out loud, sensational work jv, no notes
One in ~123,000, not bad!
That's better than monkeys on typewriters
Or become a member of SeaWorld.
Japanese hates Dolfinnnn!
Dammit.. gotta give JV an upvote for this one
Then how are you navigating through space?? Star Trek Lower Decks style??
How long will legacy car makers continue to rely on loyalty before having to put prices down
not long…
How long is not long…
Are you JV’s apprentice?
No. Aren't you ?
cause you shall reap, what you sow
Toyotas are still king.
If only the Dolphin's front end wasn't so damn ugly. She's a butterface. Nice ass though.
Wait till you see the Ora.
I don't think the Ora is that bad actually. Albeit a bit 'girly'.
Yes it's ok. Similar to the 2010s VW Beetle
I love the look of the Ora!
Agree. I find the Ora ugly af. Kind of car only a bad hair dresser coud confidently own.
Agreed. Ora looks like a beetle to me. Much prefer the sportier look of the dolphin.
So I know her name because of the comments related to this car, but I have NFI about whatever she does.
That being said, her face is also a bit meh.
The facelift for the Dophin has already been shown, it looks much better
https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/2026-byd-dolphin-ev-ge…
I'd rather wait for this model
Yep looks much better. Now whether the 6k difference for the bigger battery and motor is worth it…
@cornflakes: Look again. It's almost the same. It's the BYD tag on the side, background and lighting that are throwing you off
Eh, same same. Didnt put much effort into it.
Nah, it's subtle but ends up being a big improvement.
Need to combine with the front of the Cupra Born
Not a fan of the lil fu manchu moustache?
Just biding my time until all the manufactures start lowering prices.
This isn't lowering prices. This is a new poverty pack model with out extras like sunroof, bigger screen, powered tailgate, wireless phone charging etc…
![[Pre Order] BYD Dolphin Essential $29,990, Atto 3 Essential $39,990 + On-Road Costs @ BYD](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/03/888203.jpg?h=2137d65a)
so how much was the discount?