5 comments

  • jscyc 0 minutes ago
    That's a pretty stunning price. For context I was looking at a second hand 2018 Nissan Leaf (grey import here in Australia) a couple weeks ago for 20k.
  • grahar64 46 minutes ago
    In NZ there are BYDs everywhere. Why are they not in US yet?
    • tancop 26 minutes ago
      Because American auto makers convinced the government that BYD is price dumping in every market segment at the same time and somehow staying profitable.
    • jpollock 17 minutes ago
      Tariffs, the tariff on Chinese vehicles is 100%.
    • ballon_monkey 15 minutes ago
      No they arent? See BYD for sure, but see most other brands more often still.
    • hdgvhicv 45 minutes ago
      Freedom
      • usrnm 42 minutes ago
        Didn't Americans send all their freedom to Iran?
        • Ylpertnodi 4 minutes ago
          Yes, and now they're running out.
        • burner420042 37 minutes ago
          You mean the state of Iran?
        • bestouff 34 minutes ago
          So now Iran with their freedom ?
      • red75prime 18 minutes ago
        Freedom from those pesky car manufacturers that demand protection of domestic workforce?
    • wpm 27 minutes ago
      Regulatory capture, legalized bribery whoops I mean political donations, and protectionism. Gotta let Detroit keep making crappy bro-dozers that get 15MPG.
    • 3848485858 29 minutes ago
      just destroy your industrial base and become fully dependent on china bro
      • Boss0565 11 minutes ago
        The average American's longest-kept car is 8 years old. Therefore every eight years or so, Americans are forced to spend a significant amount of money on a car. The median price of a new car in the United States is ~$41,000. If we generously claim that a Chinese car with the same capabilities could be purchased for minimum $30,000 instead, then the number of money being lost to being forced to purchase a more expensive car, every eight years, is 11,000*350 million, or ~3.8 trillion dollars. Dividing per year, we get roughly 480 billion dollars per year that could be spent by Americans.

        I'm not an economist nor a mathematician, so I will not claim that this is a good expression of the economic impact of these restrictions. But I will say that the average American does not care about which country his or her car originates from. They care about navigating our crumbling infrastructure through the only means possible, the car. We have no reliable public transport in 99% of this country nor alternative modes of transport. We are forced to buy cars.

        It seems unfair to me that the average American, who is making less and less per year after we adjust for inflation and purchasing power, should be forced to carry the burden of a technologically backwards industry that is still pumping out millions of gas-powered vehicles, which are not only bad for the environment, but are even more expensive to operate compared to the cost of electric cars per mile.

        Our country does not think ahead, all of our decisions just temporarily patch our longstanding issues. America is screwed.

    • marsven_422 3 minutes ago
      [dead]
    • pantalaimon 29 minutes ago
      Same reason they are not in EU, tarrifs.
      • tzs 19 minutes ago
        They are in the EU. The tariff is 27% so they aren't as numerous as they would be without it but there are still plenty.

        There will probably be a lot more starting next year since they are building a factory in the EU which is scheduled to start production at the end of this year. That bypasses tariffs.

      • SapporoChris 22 minutes ago
        "BYD faces a 17% tariff on imported electric vehicles in Europe, in addition to the standard 10% base rate."

        "BYD has sold 19,241 fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe last month, a 255% soar from the same period a year ago."

        Small numbers, but I am pretty sure they're in Europe. https://eletric-vehicles.com/byd/byd-sales-in-europe-more-th...

        • NorwegianDude 2 minutes ago
          There is no fixed tariff in Europe like you are quoting. It varies.
        • unglaublich 5 minutes ago
          It’s so annoying that the EU is artificially hampering EV adoption to protect their outdated fossil fuel car manufacturers.
      • Ylpertnodi 7 minutes ago
        I see many in my part of the eu.
  • xbmcuser 32 minutes ago
    With free electricity bring offered in the afternoon because of excess solar would be a great car for most peoples daily commute cheaper even than public transport as this is less than $6 per day over 10 years
    • batisteo 27 minutes ago
      This is sad news, city have to get rid of cars, and make public transport free if needed
      • clivedup 17 minutes ago
        Cheaper EVs is a good thing.

        Australia is more than cities.

        Cities can make public transport free and congestion charges if they want to reduce usage of cars.

        • TomK32 2 minutes ago
          Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world with 87% of its population living in cities and suburbs. Being car dependent is a political choice pushed by the car industry for decades. Getting people into public transports, onto bicycles or their two feet requires reducing the vast space cities waste on privately owned cars. Super blocks that focus on active travel, less surface parking space and slower speeds are what is needed.
        • nujabe 7 minutes ago
          I don’t think congestion charges would cover building/maintaining public transport.
          • TomK32 0 minutes ago
            All infrastructure for cars and the fallout from their pollution (don't forget the tyres) is heavily subsidized by the tax payer and not as cost effective as a tram or railway.
  • motionlessveloc 52 minutes ago
    Non-video story: https://thedriven.io/2026/09/16/australias-cheapest-new-car-...

    TL;DR: AUD 19,900 driveway (means taxes 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.

    • Raed667 35 minutes ago
      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.

      • chvid 32 minutes ago
        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.

        • pantalaimon 26 minutes ago
          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.
        • Raed667 28 minutes ago
          I checked the Twingo and it is starting at €16k and an Opel Corsa (without any options) is more than €19k
      • Nursie 31 minutes ago
        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 21 minutes ago
          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 10 minutes ago
            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 5 minutes ago
            Seems like the luxury tax is 33%..
    • rwbt 42 minutes ago
      I'd love a city run around car inclusive of all taxes for $15k or less.
      • hdgvhicv 37 minutes ago
        I bought a 4 year old leaf with 25k on the clock in May for £7k ($10k). Get about 150 miles on a full charge. I’d rather a little more as I tend to do 90 a day, so if it doesn’t charge offpeak overnight for some reason I’m left with a manual recharge during the day. But I do a lot of miles (25k a year)

        The main downside on long trips is the DC is chamedo, not standard ccs, so there are fewer locations and they are sometimes broken or full.

    • Nursie 36 minutes ago
      It’s pretty tiny too, so not a road trip car IMHO.

      That said, coupled with home solar to power it, this is very cheap way to get on the road and I will likely go this direction in future - one of these for the city and something a bit bigger/more rugged to go bush once in a while.

      • defrost 25 minutes ago
        > a bit bigger/more rugged to go bush once in a while.

        Depends whether you're taking the Birdsville track or the Bibbulmun track really.

        The shorter one can be done a on a red postie bike, the longer one won't even need that :-)

        • Nursie 17 minutes ago
          Been thinking more along the lines of the Munda-biddy actually :)

          But I haven’t got on my bike for a few years now because at the moment all my spare energy goes on managing our plot. There’s always something needs moving, sawing, building, repairing, digging… So I’ve gone from having a (pudgy) cyclist’s physique with very strong calves to more of a farmer’s build with bigger arm and shoulder muscles than I’ve ever had before and a big ‘ol belly.

          But in all seriousness I also like to go remote once in a while and access national parks. I’m not going to be hooning it round destroying dunes, but getting to beautiful places like Cape Peron is tough without a the right vehicle.

      • rightnutwingjob 34 minutes ago
        $20k for the car plus $5k for roof top solar, plus $500,000 for the house to put it on.

        Or: a $2000 Corolla and the rental home you’re already in.

        • dbetteridge 32 minutes ago
          500k doesn't get you much house in Australia these days, try double that.
        • luipugs 30 minutes ago
          $500,000? That's just the price for the garage.
        • Nursie 24 minutes ago
          I’m not in a rental home, and wouldn’t be anyway.

          I want solar and a battery (don’t have it yet, it’s on the list) to cut my energy bills and guard against power cuts anyway.

          So neither of these things is an ‘extra’ expense for me getting a small EV.

          There are a total of 5 corollas available in Australia for $2k or less. Each one is ratty, beat up and 19+ years old, I wouldn’t want to chance taking any of them on the freeway, and you’d still have to fuel them.

        • andrew_lettuce 29 minutes ago
          That's great if you already have a clean, high mileage Corolla or Accord, but good luck finding one for 2k
  • throw3x 6 minutes ago
    Never buy Chinese electric vehicles. they won not last more than couple of years. what a waste