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The Driven, an Australian car news site is reporting on a new EV offering from Chinese auto manufacturer BYD
From the article:
At $US15,000, BYD's new Qin EV is already being touted as a "Corolla killer" as the world's second largest EV maker continues to disrupt the global auto market.
Launched earlier this week in China, the all-electric Qin Plus has five models priced between 109,800 RMB to ($A23,300) to 139,800 RMB ($A29,700).
The Qin Plus comes with a 100 kW motor and the option of either a 48 kWh battery providing 420 km CLTC range or a 57.6 kW hour battery with 510 km range.
[...] Indeed, most legacy car makers, at least those that are bothering to make EVs at scale at all, are still focused on the top end of the market, selling premium and heavy and high cost EVs, largely to protect their ICE business. In the US, the major car makers are retreating rapidly on their EV plans.
BYD, which is challenging Tesla as the biggest EV maker in the world, says it's "officially opening a new era where electricity is lower than oil."
Additional reporting on the BYD Qin:
https://electrek.co/2024/02/19/byd-launches-15k-qin-plus-ev-kicking-off-price-war-gas-cars/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-hybrids/byd-launches-qin-plus-ev-honor-edition-electric-cars-now-cheaper-than-gasoline/ar-BB1izoNY
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/02/byd-launches-11000-qin-plus-dm-i-phev-in-china/
(Score: 2) by number11 on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:15PM
I was comparing hybrids to ICE, and certainly didn't say that hybrids got better mileage than EVs (whether $/mile or mpge), so I don't doubt your experience. But if you're using commercial chargers, the cost of recharging is uncertain since most will charge what the market will bear. You get the range anxiety issues, though in real life, range shouldn't often be an issue for city dwellers.
Yes, you get instant heat, but probably at the cost of a significant amount of range. Worse with the cheaper EVs with resistance heaters than with the more expensive ones with a heat pump, though I wonder about even those if it's 0F (-18C). And even if you had 220V available, most EVs aren't capable of powering your house (sure, they should be).
I've got a 2015 ICE, and don't plan on replacing it for another 10 years (I don't rack up a lot of miles), at which point I may be too old to drive anyhow. I probably couldn't afford a new EV with price-gouging manufacturers. I just want cheap reliable transport from Point A to Point B that's easy to get in & out of (crossover territory), not "entertainment centers" or "allegedly self driving" or mood lighting or heated seats (I wear pants when I drive in cold weather, thank you), and certainly not with touch screens that you have to look at while driving. Eventually EV prices will drop (Hello BYD!), the fad of touch screens will pass (though they'll still remain cheaper than real buttons), batteries will become modular and standardized enough for ordinary mechanics to deal with, and insurance costs will drop (since insurance companies won't play it safe by ruling a minor fender-bender a total loss).