Chinas BYD electric-car sales push before Victorias rebate scheme expires

Chinese electric-car company BYD will put Victorian customers at the front of the queue so they can place an order before the state’s $3000 rebate scheme expires on June 30.

Electric-car specialist BYD will allocate the equivalent of more than half the vehicles it has sold so far in Australia this year, to buyers in Victoria so they can beat the cut-off for the state’s $3000 rebate scheme which expires at the end of this month.

Rebates and subsidies for electric vehicles differ in each state in Australia and have been dismissed by some automotive industry leaders as “middle-class welfare”.

Auto executives opposed to electric-car rebates instead say taxpayer dollars would be better spent on expanding charging infrastructure rather than handing out between $3000 and $6000 to motorists who can afford a $50,000 to $70,000 vehicle.

Last week, the Victorian Government became the first jurisdiction in Australia to axe the controversial $3000 kick-back, which had applied to electric vehicles that cost up to $68,000.

To beat the deadline, Chinese car brand BYD has shifted some of its vehicle allocation from other states and into Victoria so buyers there can beat the rebate expiry on June 30.

The local distributor for BYD says it has allocated 2700 examples of its Atto 3 electric car for Victorian buyers – of which 750 can be delivered by June 30 while the balance will be delivered over the next six months.

The tally of 2700 vehicles for Victoria is more than double the 4600 BYD cars sold nationally so far this year.

According to the conditions of the scheme, as long as a customer has placed a deposit and the contract is signed – and the vehicle is delivered by the end of this year – the buyer is eligible for the $3000 rebate in Victoria.

To meet demand, BYD has taken unprecedented steps to side-step shipping bottlenecks and started also sending cars to Australia in containers.

“We have been importing between 150 and 200 cars a week for the past two months in shipping containers to help get our cars to customers as quickly as possible,” said Mark Harland, a former high ranking General Motors executive who is now the chief operating officer of the distributor of BYD vehicles in Australia, EV Direct.

“We have tremendous support from the factory and they have been quick to respond to any challenges, so we can serve our customers.”

Mr Harland said the 10,000th example of the BYD Atto 3 for Australia will come off the production line soon – after starting local deliveries late last year – ranking the company as one of the fastest-growing automotive brands locally.

“We still send cars on (roll-on, roll-off ships), but adding shipping containers has enabled us to get extra inventory here, especially on the east coast of Australia,” said Mr Harland.

“Although the shipping containers can technically fit three cars in them, we have been putting two in each container to minimise damage and reduce the risk of contaminants, which have been holding up ports around the country.”

While the BYD Atto 3 starts from $50,900 drive-away (not including metallic paint which adds $700), the price for a cheaper BYD model – called the Dolphin – is due to be announced on 22 June 2023.

At that time pre-orders for the BYD Dolphin will open, however Drive understands this model may not be eligible for the rebate scheme in Victoria as the cars may not be delivered by the end of the year.

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