EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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#3455434 23-Jan-2026 15:16

dafman:

Personally, I think you are running a greater manufacturer risk buying a new Tesla today than with BYD.

I'm not so worried about BYD,

But according to this we're up to 14 Chinese EV brands here, and they are continuing to grow, how many will stay (and how more are to come) is anyone's guess...

XPeng, IM, Zeekr, and Farizon BYD, Chery, Geely, GWM, JAC, Jaecoo, LDV, Leapmotor, MG, and Omoda.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/360823616/another-two-chinese-carmakers-confirm-new-zealand-launch

gzt

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#3455435 23-Jan-2026 15:17

GWM is distributed directly in NZ since 2016.

MikeFly

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#3455452 23-Jan-2026 16:05

Speaking of Tesla, Lemonade Insurance group in the US have dropped insurance rates for FSD miles on Tesla cars.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/lemonade-halve-tesla-insurance-rates-miles-driven-with-software-assistant-2026-01-21/

deepred

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#3455537 23-Jan-2026 23:07

richms:

lchiu7:

The difference is if your ICE fails you can replace most parts unless the engine block cracks and needs to be replaced when you are likely to replace the entire engine.

The failure of the EV is likely to be the batteries and hopefully there will be independent repairers. Of course on a tangential matter, if the manufacturer decides after the vehicle warranty expires not to stock spare parts or provide firmware updates, then that is going to be issue.

That is my concern with the chinese ones, they have already had massive issues with crap dealership networks in AU leaving people up the creek with no parts and poor service. Them all here being sold thru 3rd parties that are also doing the support for it under the brand of the manufacturer makes me want to avoid them because when they get bored with the brand and move on - you're not getting anything from anywhere.

So the Chinese brands really are low-cost to a fault? Maybe not as much as the old Ladas or Yugos were though.

Last I checked, there were over 100 car makers in China, not counting the foreign brands. It's likely some of them will go under or otherwise consolidate.

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dafman

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#3455560 24-Jan-2026 10:13

wellygary:

dafman:

Personally, I think you are running a greater manufacturer risk buying a new Tesla today than with BYD.

I'm not so worried about BYD,

But according to this we're up to 14 Chinese EV brands here, and they are continuing to grow, how many will stay (and how more are to come) is anyone's guess...

XPeng, IM, Zeekr, and Farizon BYD, Chery, Geely, GWM, JAC, Jaecoo, LDV, Leapmotor, MG, and Omoda.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/360823616/another-two-chinese-carmakers-confirm-new-zealand-launch

I’d have no concerns buying either GWM or BYD.

Of the others, probably not yet. Although note three manufacturers account for nine of the brands:

Geely, Zeekr, Farizon = same manufacturer

Chery, Omoda, Jaycoo = same manufacturer

MG, IM, LDV = same manufacturer.

wellygary

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#3455568 24-Jan-2026 11:16

dafman:

Of the others, probably not yet. Although note three manufacturers account for nine of the brands:

Geely, Zeekr, Farizon = same manufacturer

Chery, Omoda, Jaycoo = same manufacturer

MG, IM, LDV = same manufacturer.

Yeah, but just because there is a Skoda dealer in your town, doesn't guarantee that you can gets parts for your SEAT...

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#3455637 24-Jan-2026 16:53

dafman:

Of the others, probably not yet. Although note three manufacturers account for nine of the brands:

Geely, Zeekr, Farizon = same manufacturer

You can add Polestar and Volvo to the list of brands that Geely makes and owns.

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dafman

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#3455642 24-Jan-2026 17:25

jarledb:

You can add Polestar and Volvo to the list of brands that Geely makes and owns.

I remember a time Volvo owners wouldn’t be seen dead in a Japanese car.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3455645 24-Jan-2026 17:34

What's Japan got to do with Geely?

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Technofreak

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#3455658 24-Jan-2026 19:01

HarmLessSolutions:

What's Japan got to do with Geely?

Nothing in a direct sense, but I can see that if what was your typical Volvo driver wouldn't be seen dead in a Japanese car they probably wouldn't buy or be seen dead in a Chinese car either, including Polestar and Volvo, if they are Chinese. That's I what I think Dafman was getting at.

Volvo/Polestar may well be still Swedish built (and therefore not seen as a Chinese car by most buyers) but still Chinese owned, I haven't checked. However as an example of famous brands now being Chinese, MG is an old iconic English brand but is most definitely Chinese through and through these days.

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#3455695 25-Jan-2026 07:00

SaltyNZ:

I have 107,000km on the Tesla. When I bought it, the full range estimate was 431km. Now, it's 412km. Barely noticeable. Having said that one of the selling points, for me, of the RWD Model 3 is that the batteries are LFP which has the best lifetime. I'm looking to trade it in soon (wife having suggested we try a new strategy of not waiting till the car is worth $200 to the wrecker before replacing it) and I am pretty certain to be choosing the Seal (Premium trim) which is the only one in the price range that actually has more range than the RWD Model 3 - and it's also LFP.

I am thinking along the same lines at the moment, although my 2012 TM3RWD has only done 40000km. The lead contender is the Seal Premium as well. Its biggest limitation in my book is the same as the TM3. It has a boot instead of a hatch, which is less convenient.

Then again, when I consider 95% of what I use my TM3 for I might look at an Atto1 (Seagull).

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#3455707 25-Jan-2026 08:10

Technofreak:

Volvo/Polestar may well be still Swedish built (and therefore not seen as a Chinese car by most buyers) but still Chinese owned, I haven't checked. However as an example of famous brands now being Chinese, MG is an old iconic English brand but is most definitely Chinese through and through these days.

So is it where the owner of the brand is located or where they are made? Tesla are American but also made in China and Germany.

Its the same thing with Jaguar / Land Rover. Defenders, Discoveries, Range Rovers and Jaguars, some of which will be EVs soon, are made in Britain and seen as British but these days are owned by Tata Group of India.

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#3455709 25-Jan-2026 08:15

Technofreak:

Volvo/Polestar may well be still Swedish built (and therefore not seen as a Chinese car by most buyers) but still Chinese owned, I haven't checked. However as an example of famous brands now being Chinese, MG is an old iconic English brand but is most definitely Chinese through and through these days.

I thought SAIC still had an R&D centre at Longbridge?

I would love to see them bring back the Austin and Rover marques, but apparently there are complications with the ownership of those trademarks.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3455716 25-Jan-2026 09:26

Basil12:

Technofreak:

Volvo/Polestar may well be still Swedish built (and therefore not seen as a Chinese car by most buyers) but still Chinese owned, I haven't checked. However as an example of famous brands now being Chinese, MG is an old iconic English brand but is most definitely Chinese through and through these days.

So is it where the owner of the brand is located or where they are made? Tesla are American but also made in China and Germany.

Its the same thing with Jaguar / Land Rover. Defenders, Discoveries, Range Rovers and Jaguars, some of which will be EVs soon, are made in Britain and seen as British but these days are owned by Tata Group of India.

So what is the reasoning behind shunning Chinese or presumably other Asian manufacture? I'm boycotting products from US in retaliation to the tariffs, climate change denial and other chaos being brought to bear by the orange felon which isn't too much of an inconvenience (Wrangler/Levis, bourbon, Californian wine, iHerb) but I would really struggle to avoid Chinese made goods these days with our Polestar2 and one of our solar inverter as well as numerous major electrical devices being of Chinese origin.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

johno1234

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#3455744 25-Jan-2026 11:34

I don’t see how you can correlate boycotting a democracy with supporting a totalitarian state that rounds up religious minorities and puts them in camps.

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