BYD flags big change for EVs sold in Australia amid warning for motorists wanting to switch from a petrol car

Australian motorists could soon have a brand-new fully electric car under $30,000 driveaway for the first time ever in what could herald a quantum change on our roads.

BYD, the world’s biggest producer of EVs, has yet to confirm when the Seagull and ATTO 2 models are coming to Australia.

But the Chinese car and battery-making giant is already offering Australia’s cheapest new fully-electric car, the Dolphin, selling for $32,711 on the road.

Toby Hagon, a motoring expert with EV Central, said a brand new sub-$30,000 Seagull, driveaway, was a real possibility during the coming year.

This could see more Australians embrace an electric car for city driving if they could handle a weaker charging range of 300km.

“Certainly, obviously, price has been a barrier in the past and removing that makes it more appealing,” he told The Nightly. “Anything playing in that affordable end of the market is typically going to be a city-focused car.”

An even cheaper EV from BYD could appeal to the kind of buyer who used to buy a Toyota Corolla or a Mazda3 hatchback, but is now opting for a small, budget SUV from China, with a petrol engine, like a Chery C5.

“That’s what these cheap EVs are going to be competing with. Maybe not the regular hatchbacks,” Mr Hagon said.

“The competition in the market is increasing enormously. Even in the last 12 months, we’ve seen prices come down on a lot of new EVs and I would anticipate that to keep going.”

EV sweeteners

State Government rebates on electric vehicles all finished in 2025, with Western Australia winding up its $3500 zero emission rebate in May.

But drivers of an EV on a novated lease can claim 100 per cent of the running costs and financing from their taxable income, unlike petrol cars, where only half the expenses can be claimed on tax.

Fully-electric cars have a small, 8 per cent market share but Smartgroup, a salary packaging group, estimates that EVs make up roughly half of its novated leases.

Employers providing the salary-scarified cars are exempt from having to pay the fringe benefits tax if the EV is below the luxury car tax of $91,387 for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Mike Daly, a customer education specialist with Smartgroup, said EV drivers on a novated lease could potentially pay a lot less income tax.

“For a lot of people, the savings generally are significant. We have customers reducing their taxable income by maybe $30,000 a year which is significant in anyone’s money,” he told The Nightly.

But Mr Hagon said EV drivers on a novated lease had to be careful of high interest rates on the financing packages.

“It’s not always easy to work out what the interest rate is on those novated leases. In some instances, it appears that the leasing companies are putting quite high interest rates on them,” he said.

The novated lease tax policy helped Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party snatch traditional Liberal Party seats at this year’s election.

Former Opposition leader Peter Dutton campaigned against the novated lease sweeteners during the Federal election, despite the fact EVs like Teslas are more common on the leafy, upmarket streets of previously blue-ribbon Liberal party areas like Sydney’s lower north shore.

The Federal Government is reviewing the novated lease perks in 2027.

Labor’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard is also aiming to reduce passenger car emissions by 59 per cent by 2029 with penalties levied on car manufacturers that sell too many petrol and diesel models, which would ultimately make EVs cheaper.

Tougher penalties could be enforced in five years from now under a new 2035 climate target, designed to reduce carbon emissions by 62 to 70 per cent within a decade.

Electric versus petrol

A fully-electric car can be much more economical in years to come despite costing tens of thousands of dollars more upfront.

The new MGS5 EV costs $40,990 new, including on-road costs. This is $17,000 more than the base model MG ZS Excite model with a petrol engine.

A motorist paying $23,990, driveaway, for the petrol version would typically be paying $96.25 a week for E10 unleaded fuel, now selling for $1.75 a litre.

Within three years and five months, the driver of fully-electric MGS5 would have saved enough in petrol and servicing costs to make up for paying $17,000 more upfront in the showroom.

But EVs have worse depreciation than petrol cars, which means it may not necessarily be more economical to pay more for an EV upfront to avoid paying for petrol.

“The single, biggest cost of owning any new car is depreciation and EVs haven’t performed well in residual values,” Mr Hagon said. “When you’ve got a more expensive car, you’ve got more money to lose.”