Source: EV Direct
EV Direct has confirmed there will be no hiking up of or bargaining on prices for the BYD Atto 3 electric crossover after the announcement it will sell through Eagers Automotive dealerships on Thursday.
At the same time, BYD in China has announced it has started construction of another battery factory with FAW that will enable it to make one million EVs a year.
Previously only available to order online through the EV Direct website, the Eagers deal includes a 49% stake in the BYD import group and along with a deal with mycar will see the fledgling import company secure exposure to some 80% of the Australian population, enabling regional test drives.
The announcement brought with it concerns that a dealership model would mean that pricing was not fixed. With reports that some dealers – such as the EV6 in the US – are hiking up the price of EVs amid supply chain issues causing limited inventory, the concerns are understandably justified.
These concerns have been put to rest by EV Direct boss Luke Todd who spoke with Youtuber and EV owner Tesla Tom: “There won’t be any bargaining,” Todd said. “It’s fixed pricing whether it’s on digital or whether you go into the showroom.”
The BYD Atto 3 launched in late February with great fanfare, and with the announcement that the electric crossover from China EV giant BYD would become the most affordable EV on the market currently, priced from $44,900.
Importantly perhaps, Todd says that the Atto 3 is all of the features in the car including all of the driver assist features are standard. “We don’t have the option to up-spec this vehicle, because it’s already at full spec,” he said, adding that this includes all infotainment inclusions.
Connectivity, software and infotainment
Other details revealed during the livestream included how car’s in-built connectivity will work. Using BYD’s proprietary “D-link” system (which he adds is yet to be rolled out in Australia but can connect to both Apple and Android phones), a whole range of technology features including the ability to upgrade the car’s software over-the-air will come as standard.
“It’s really an extension of all of the apps that you have on your phone,” he says. “Obviously there are safety features built-in so you can’t be playing with apps and so on whilst you’re driving, but to have an extension of your mobile device …. integrated into the car via the D-link system is really a step forward for us.”
Bold colour options on the way
While there is just one bold interior colourway available for the moment, EV Direct is looking at introducing another down the track.
“It’s extremely ergonomic as far as touch points where the screens are and where the handles and the gear change is,” Todd said.
He added that in addition to the three exterior colour options currently available – white, grey and blue – this may increase to five or six once assembly line management is established.
Source: EV Direct
Warranty and servicing
The BYD will come with a seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty for the vehicle and a seven-year/160,000km warranty for the battery. While BYD offers an unlimited battery warranty in China, Todd says the limited battery warranty was required in order to achieve the Atto 3’s competitive price.
He added: “Battery degradation is extremely low…the Blade battery (which is liquid-cooled) will comfortably do more than a million kilometres without any major degradation whatsoever. So whilst we’ve set the warranty at a certain point we expect to have very few warranty claims on the battery.”
New Blade battery factory
A key factor in meeting demand for electric vehicles – including the 1,500 a month capacity secured by EV Direct for Australia – will be the ability to supply enough batteries.
BYD differs from most EV makers in that it makes its own batteries (another example being Tesla, which is gearing up to make 4680 cells alongside its EV plants). It is already the second-largest maker of batteries in China, with a 25GWh capacity accoutning for 16.2% market share in 2021.
Chinese media reported on Monday that BYD’s battery division FinDreams has now broken ground on its new cell factory it is building in collaboration with fellow EV maker FAW.
The factory, which is located in northeast China’s Jilin province, will have a 45Gwh capacity that can provide enough batteries for one million new EVs a year.
It is being constructed by a joint venture between the two conies under the convoluted name FAW FinDreams New Energy Technology Co thanks to a RMB 13.5 billion ($A3 billion) investment.
You can view the entire Ludicrous Feed interview below:
Keyword: Atto 3 fixed pricing confirmed, as BYD gears up to power 1 million EVs a year