The week’s episode discusses the latest developments in the Australian electric vehicle market, including price reductions for MG and BYD models, Tesla’s continued dominance, and the launch of new models from brands like Xpeng and Zeekr.
Introduction
Welcome to EV Loop, powered by CarLoop. I’m Adrian Maidment.
And I’m Riz Akhtar. Hi Riz, good to see you.
Yeah, likewise, Adrian. We’ve got a lot to talk about, a lot to get through this week. Today, we’re covering what’s making news locally and internationally, plus looking at new vehicles, our chart of the week, and upcoming EV events. I hope that’s right, Riz.
I hope that’s right. Let’s get into it.
Adrian Maidment
We’ll start with something people really like, and that’s price reductions. MG prices have fallen.
Riz Akhtar
Pretty much, and it appears that MG has made another round of cuts, particularly across the electric vehicle range. For the first time, you can get an electric SUV for under $35,000 drive-away. Two years ago, we wouldn’t have ever thought this was going to happen. This applies to any MY23 build MG ZS EV here in Australia. Additionally, there are reductions across the MG ZS 2024 build cars, as well as the MG4. And they’re not the only ones in town trying to reduce prices to sell vehicles. BYD has been doing a bit of that as well, haven’t they?
Adrian Maidment
Yeah, BYD has had a couple of price cuts, particularly with the new 2024 BYD Atto 3. More recently, the BYD Seal, which we thought was more of an end-of-financial-year type campaign with their premium and performance models, has seen a price cut. The old recommended retail price is now the drive-away price. You can get a BYD Seal Premium for under $60,000 drive-away and a BYD Seal Performance for under $70,000 drive-away. The EV price war continues in Australia and New Zealand.
Riz Akhtar
And not just the price war, but another element is the battery. Back to MG—they’ve introduced a 10-year warranty now. That’s been a bit of a game-changer, although there hasn’t been much coverage on the significance of this. A 10-year warranty on MG electric vehicles is significant because, you know, all the myths and concerns about electric vehicles needing battery replacements every couple of years—MG is now saying that for pretty much all their electric vehicles, they’re covering it under warranty for up to 10 years. The average age of a car in Australia is 9.2 years, so this is a game-changer. It will give a lot more confidence to owners, businesses, and the industry when they think about buying an electric car for the long haul.
Adrian Maidment
And that warranty covers the whole car, doesn’t it?
Yeah, pretty much.
That’s impressive. Let’s move on, staying in the sales area. We have some data coming in about Australia’s performance in Tesla and Polestar sales last month—they were down a bit, weren’t they?
Riz Akhtar
Yeah, they sold just over 2,500 Teslas in July, according to data from the Electric Vehicle Council. That came in ahead of the overall national sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. But at the same time, Tesla has just launched a couple of new offers, such as really low-interest rates on their vehicles, which might help boost those sales a little in August. Time will tell. Polestar also had just over 90 sales for their Polestar 2 electric sedan. Surprisingly, there were 12 sales of the Polestar 3, the new electric SUV, which are likely to be demonstrator cars at upcoming electric vehicle shows, which we’ll cover later in the episode.
Adrian Maidment
Polestar has also opened a new retail space, haven’t they?
Riz Akhtar
Yeah, a new retail space in Sydney. This follows the opening of their Melbourne space over 12 months ago at Chadstone Shopping Centre. The new one is located in Sydney, along with the relocation of their head office to North Ryde. It’s good to see the brand expanding as they prepare for the launch of more popular SUVs, the Polestar 3, and later in the year, the Polestar 4.
Adrian Maidment
In international news, still with Tesla, there have been sightings of the updated and revised Tesla Model Y.
Riz Akhtar
Yes, we pretty much got the blueprint from Tesla when they refreshed the new Model 3, adding a few more premium features. Elon Musk said in the last couple of months that there’s no new Model Y coming out this year, so it’s likely early next year. But the first sightings now confirm what we were expecting, such as ambient lighting along the doors and the dash, perforated seats for ventilation and heating, and a potential light bar running across the rear of the car. It’s a bit of a facelift, but it will be packed with a lot more features, similar to what we’re seeing in the upgraded Model 3.
Adrian Maidment
Yeah, it’s probably just going to be like the Model 3, isn’t it? You notice a big difference when you see the new Model 3 in a dealership compared to the current Model Y—it’s quite plain in comparison.
Riz Akhtar
I think Tesla is being a bit bolder with their designs. For the sake of streamlining production, they want to use as many similar parts as possible. We’ll see what it looks like when it comes out later this year or early 2025.
Adrian Maidment
Our Chart of the Week is focused on Victoria, Australia. We’ve looked at the data showing that EV uptake has surpassed 50,000 vehicles. It’s not close to where New South Wales is, with over 65,000 vehicles, but it’s getting up there. EV uptake continues to rise, adding 5,000 to 6,000 electric cars to the fleet in Victoria.
Riz Akhtar
There are fewer incentives in Victoria compared to New South Wales, aren’t there?
Adrian Maidment
Yes, pretty much. Victoria pulled the pin on incentives a lot quicker last year. Also, charging infrastructure is lagging behind New South Wales, which is one of the reasons we wanted to hold the EV Charging Summit here in Victoria.
Riz Akhtar
Now let’s move on to these highly successful EV events. Who were some of the speakers and vehicles there?
To recap, Adrian, we had our EV Charging Summit 2024 here in Victoria. We had over 100 delegates, along with electric vehicle car makers who brought their vehicles, as well as exhibitors focused on charging infrastructure, delivering apps that allow you to charge, and energy companies offering renewable energy. Our keynote speaker was from a successful company that runs charging infrastructure in Europe. We had a Q&A session with them, along with representatives from EV Networks, ChargeFox, and JLL, a big property group. We also had Emma from EV FireSafe, who shared the latest trends on how many electric cars are catching fire and whether it’s all just a myth or actually happening.
Adrian Maidment
A leading world authority, you would say, wouldn’t you?
Riz Akhtar
Yes, she definitely is. She spoke to delegates about that and answered their questions to alleviate any fears they had. On top of that, we had people representing grid companies or working with grid companies to make it easier to install faster chargers. Everyone came together, shared lessons, and walked away with something valuable. Plus, they got to see the latest electric cars on the market, including those from Tesla—who, as you know, doesn’t usually attend many events, so it was great to see them there.
Adrian Maidment
Are you planning to have the same event next year as well?
Riz Akhtar
We’re thinking about it. We’re starting to get into the planning phase. Our next event is likely to focus on the changes coming with all the new electric vehicle brands entering the market. We’ll focus on EV charging, the automotive industry, and bringing those together. We expect to see many more new brands at the shows coming up early next year, and we want to make sure they have the opportunity to tell their story about their electric vehicles and getting more of them on the road, as well as learning about and deploying charging infrastructure. We’re looking forward to it, and we hope to have it all together by February next year. Very exciting.
Adrian Maidment
We’ll mention a few other events coming up later in the year. We’ve got the Mobility Live event coming up later in the year. That’s in Melbourne, right?
Riz Akhtar
Yes, that’s right. I’ll be speaking there as well. It’s an industry electric vehicle and mobility show. So if anyone’s around, do come and say hi—that will be in October. Prior to that, we have All-Energy. I’ll also be speaking there, so if anyone’s around, come and say hi.
Adrian Maidment
That’s in Melbourne as well?
Riz Akhtar
Yes, that’s right. We also have the Melbourne Electric Vehicle Show, which by the time listeners or viewers see this episode, it should be on that weekend. If you’re around, do come and say hi. CarLoop will be there, and there will be so many new cars and other things to see. So if you’re in Melbourne at the Exhibition Centre, do come and say hi.
Adrian Maidment
Been driving anything this week, Riz?
Riz Akhtar
This week, I had a chance to take a quick look at the new Tesla Model 3. I saw it at a showroom again, and it does look pretty cool—pretty good, actually. There are quite a few new changes. Recently, a new paint option has been made available—Quicksilver. It’s a new paint that anyone interested can order, and it’s likely to arrive in the market in the coming months. You can already buy a Model Y with Quicksilver, so there’s a lot changing. Tesla is trying to spice things up a bit to stay ahead in terms of their sales.
Another quick point: I got to drive the BYD Seal a couple of weeks ago. Word on the street is that there are now digital keys on offer, so you no longer need to carry your physical key to access the car. That’s a great feature, which I didn’t have when I had the car, but it’s available now to some of the new Seal owners with the latest software update. That’s quite exciting to see.
Adrian Maidment
There’s also an update coming to that car next year, isn’t there?
Riz Akhtar
Yeah, there is. It’s going to be interesting to see—possibly faster charging and a whole lot of other improvements that BYD is expected to add. Some rumours suggest LIDAR might be included. There needs to be a bit of improvement on its autopilot equivalent system, but we’ll see what the next round of changes brings. We hope to have that car with deliveries starting late this year or early next year, along with the Sea Lion 7, which is its electric SUV counterpart. So stay tuned.
Adrian Maidment
And anything making you think about the EV industry this week? Any musings?
Riz Akhtar
There are a lot of shows coming up, which is quite exciting. There will be new electric vehicles showcased for the first time. I’ll be out there talking to people who get to sit in these cars for the first time, and I’m interested to hear their thoughts—what they think of the cars, whether they expect to see these vehicles on our roads in the coming months and years, and what they think the whole market is doing. It’s going to be an interesting time. A lot of these cars are here for the first time, and plenty more brands are coming, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on that.
Conclusion
That’s great. Thank you, Riz, and we’ll see you next week. Thanks, Adrian. Yeah, good to be on and look forward to sharing more insights next week.
