BYD Dolphin launch at purported Tesla Model 2 price makes it the cheapest electric vehicle in Australia

The US may never get electric vehicles from Tesla's biggest competitor BYD, but an aggressive global expansion plan from the world's second largest EV maker means places like UK, EU, or Australia, can enjoy some of the best value-for-money EVs out there. For example, the BYD Dolphin just launched in Australia at a price that makes it the most affordable electric car there.

The base BYD Dolphin Dynamic trim starts from just AUD$38,990 (about US$25,899), undercutting its direct Chinese competitors there, and still offering BYD's safer blade battery structure. That's steeper than its price in China which starts from about US$17,000, but then again the global model is larger and Australian federal incentives knock down the price further.

For comparison, the Tesla Model 2 is now expected to be priced at about US$25,000 before US government subsidies. In its Master Plan 3 strategy, Tesla lists the eventual Model 2 battery capacity as 53 kWh, most likely of the LFP variety that it now puts in its base Model 3. The base BYD Dolphin carries a smaller, 45 kWh BYD LFP Blade battery pack that allows it to cover 340km on the WLTP range test, which likely translates to about a 200-mile EPA estimate.

BYD has a more powerful Dolphin Premium trim in Australia for AUD$6,000 more, with a bigger 60kWh battery pack that lets it go 427km (267miles) on the WLTP cycle that is about 10% more generous than the EPA estimate used in the US. Overall, BYD can claim a global niche where the upcoming mass market Tesla EV is supposed to be slotted right now, even though it launches its vehicles at higher prices than they are sold for at its home turf.

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