BYD in NZ

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3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2945436 22-Jul-2022 17:07

Dingbatt:

And that is why traditional dealerships are getting their lunch eaten the world over.

Order it through another, more realistic, dealership?

At the very least complain to BYD NZ.

Agreed, hence my initial "stealership" remark.

I was referred to that dealership by BYD NZ, as its the only one currently in the south island (to my knowledge).

There were top-level comments initially on their Facebook announcement complaining about this, which quickly disappeared / got removed.

There are also questions on the same post about refunds with no official replies. My complaints on there will likely stay in the void.

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SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#2945445 22-Jul-2022 17:34

It does seem a bit rough that in one part of the country it's $500 refundable and $2k non-refundable in another.

I personally think having a refundable deposit shows confidence in the car and starts the dealer-client relationship on an "in good faith" setting.

Non refundable is just taking advantage of the low supply EV world.

I decided to take that risk after a lot of research, but for those thinking about it now, at least you can see and drive one before making that decision to put down a deposit.

sen8or

1770 posts

Uber Geek

#2945533 23-Jul-2022 08:38

An alternative view is that when you place an order with a deposit, you are securing your car and potentially taking the place of someone else. If you back out of the deal, it is possible (although unlikely given their popularity) that the dealer will be stuck with that car if there isn't another buyer to take your place. At the time of order, the dealer has to commit to the purchase of the car and the liability / commitment is non cancelable.

lchiu7

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#2947076 27-Jul-2022 19:32

Just got back from driving the Atto3. First impression was, it's much larger in the flesh than you can get a feeling from videos. Nice to drive but no one-pedal mode. Peppy but since I was driving in the Welly CBD and along Oriental Bay I could not give it a good thrash.

Heated seats nice on cold and wet Welly afternoon.

Summary liked it a lot but need more time. It's a lot of car for the money.

Since it's pretty much booked up for test drives, the dealer has offered to bring it to my home next week and drive afer work, the only proviso he rides in the back. No big deal. Only negative so far my wife found her elbow banged into the centre console when turning the wheel left but when we mentioned that the dealer said the steering was probably set for a driver who likes a low wheel and raised it. I think that sorted that issue out but will check on the next drive. Apparently "our" car is arriving on Friday :-)

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

shk292

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#2947775 29-Jul-2022 12:07

lchiu7:

Just got back from driving the Atto3. First impression was, it's much larger in the flesh than you can get a feeling from videos. Nice to drive but no one-pedal mode. Peppy but since I was driving in the Welly CBD and along Oriental Bay I could not give it a good thrash.

Heated seats nice on cold and wet Welly afternoon.

Summary liked it a lot but need more time. It's a lot of car for the money.

Since it's pretty much booked up for test drives, the dealer has offered to bring it to my home next week and drive afer work, the only proviso he rides in the back. No big deal. Only negative so far my wife found her elbow banged into the centre console when turning the wheel left but when we mentioned that the dealer said the steering was probably set for a driver who likes a low wheel and raised it. I think that sorted that issue out but will check on the next drive. Apparently "our" car is arriving on Friday :-)

Nice to know you had a reasonably successful test drive. I was slightly disappointed not to have been contacted for a test drive by BYD Auckland having placed my pre-order a few weeks ago, but am now booked in for next Friday. Hopefully the wife will like it!

Dingbatt

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#2948200 30-Jul-2022 09:25

Had a chance to have a look at the Atto 3 (no test drive yet). I must say I was quite impressed. The interior is a little bit ‘quirky’, particularly the vents and bungy door pockets*. The muscle texture on the dash wasn’t as prominent as I thought it might look. The displays didn’t seem particularly high res (I’m spoiled by the display in the TM3 I think) but I did like the small driver’s display that really provides you with what you need without being cluttered by extraneous info. I quite like the controls it has on the centre console, which I believe you will be able to find by muscle memory rather than having to take your eyes off the road to locate.
The seats were comfortable and the driving position good, no lumbar support though, so not sure how I’d get on sitting in it for an extended period. Seemed plenty of rear seat room for families (as empty nesters not really a priority for us).

Cargo space seemed adequate, although the rear seats don’t fold flat. The seat folding mechanism is a pull tab on the shoulder of each seat, so not accessible from the rear (without climbing into the cargo area). There is no ‘frunk’, though as others have mentioned, there is talk of a retrofit option coming. There is certainly space under the bonnet for one and compared to other EVs, even ones without a frunk, the under bonnet area looks unfinished, with no plastic covers. So all the gubbins are in full view. A nicely formed plastic cover incorporating a small storage bin would solve that.

I do like that it has an LFP blade battery. The LFP tech is what finally convinced me to order my TM3. The 400km range is perhaps the minimum I would be comfortable with as that is still capable of a ‘day trip’ without having to recharge.

The proof of the pudding will be in the driving, so now that I have viewed it, I believe it is worthy of taking for a test drive. Unfortunately the Auckland dealer is only doing 30 minute test drives, which at the wrong time of day, barely gets you out of Newmarket. I have a standard test drive route I use that includes urban, motorway and rural roads and includes trying the vehicle in my garage. That evolution takes an hour. I guess a half hour ‘taster’ might be enough to see if a longer drive is warranted.

Since my wife will be the main driver, its more conventional layout is a plus. The next step is to convince her there is no need for a petrol backup. After looking at the BYD I called into our Kia dealer. They had a new Niro that had just arrived. Admittedly it was was the HEV but was in the ‘Earth’ trim (second lowest). Can’t say I was particularly impressed at that trim level and the reason I mention it here is that the ‘Earth’ PHEV Niro is virtually exactly the same price after the rebate is applied as the Atto 3 is (~$50K).

*These ‘quirks’ would not stop me buying it.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

gzt

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#2948255 30-Jul-2022 10:03

I remember seeing bungy cord door pockets on an old Ford or Holden. I cannot recall if it was factory or jerry rig. To that extent it is not new to me.

lchiu7

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#2948283 30-Jul-2022 11:10

Dingbatt:
[Big snip]

Since my wife will be the main driver, its more conventional layout is a plus. The next step is to convince her there is no need for a petrol backup. After looking at the BYD I called into our Kia dealer. They had a new Niro that had just arrived. Admittedly it was was the HEV but was in the ‘Earth’ trim (second lowest). Can’t say I was particularly impressed at that trim level and the reason I mention it here is that the ‘Earth’ PHEV Niro is virtually exactly the same price after the rebate is applied as the Atto 3 is (~$50K).

*These ‘quirks’ would not stop me buying it.

I would agree with most of those comments. I didn't have time to open the hood to have a look or look at the rear because during my test drive I got a call about a production problem so I had to curtail the test drive.

From my brief test drive I really like the car.

Didn't spend much time with big screen because I was focused on driving. But the reversing cameras and 360° view is very cool.

So the dealer is coming to my house on Monday evening so I can take it for a longer drive along the motorway and streets that I'm used to .

The range is not a big issue really because I'll still have a petrol engine car in my fleet .

I also sat in the cabin of the Kia Niro which is very similar to the EV6 which I did drive and I liked but my wife thought it was too large for us. But the EV is going to be very expensive and not much cheaper than the EV6 and much less car and not available till March next year so I think this BYD is going to be a strong contender.

The other contender is the 2022 MG ZSEV but that's not available here even though it's been available in the UK for at least 6 months. Planned pricing is very competitive if you can believe the MG website.$56k for the top of the range before the rebate. This makes it about 2K cheaper than the BYD.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

lchiu7

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#2949407 1-Aug-2022 17:54

Just completed a longer test drive from Khandallah, to Jville, on the motorway to Tawa, to Countdown and back. I had my wife drive it back.

I am seriously impressed. A few observations

-regen braking not as aggressive as the other cars I have driven like the EV6, Polestar 2 or the Leaf. There is no single pedal mode.

- there is a noticeable motor whine that occurs when accelerating. The dealer guy said after a while you don't notice it and I suspect if you have the radio on you would not hear it either. I tried to turn the radio on but it came on so loud that I just turned it off to avoid the evil eye from my wife :-(

- There is no native maps application like all other EV's I have driven. The dealer said it might come over an OTA update but the car would need to have a GPS receiver in it for that to work. Apple Car Play and Android Auto coming OTA soon.

-reversing camera views are very high quality

-Unlike the new MG the steering wheel is adjustable for both up/down and in/out which does mean you should be able to find a good driving position.

-The range has gone up from 440 to 480kms which is nice

-Vehicle to load is standard.

Have to confirm with her indoors but looks like this is a goer.

Batman

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#2949466 1-Aug-2022 18:38

how does the range go up from 440 to 480km?

that puts it higher than the Model Y now?

SomePostman

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Master Geek

#2949468 1-Aug-2022 18:46

Batman:
how does the range go up from 440 to 480km?

that puts it higher than the Model Y now?

It hasn't. The battery had it's WLTP range reviewed slightly up. The long range has a NEDC range of 480 km (completely unrealistic) and a WLTP range of 420 km. From test drive at dealers, this actually seems achievable around town. 110 km/hr range is probably closer to 340 km. But this is all pretty early info.

lchiu7

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#2949471 1-Aug-2022 19:00

SomePostman:
Batman:

how does the range go up from 440 to 480km?

that puts it higher than the Model Y now?

It hasn't. The battery had it's WLTP range reviewed slightly up. The long range has a NEDC range of 480 km (completely unrealistic) and a WLTP range of 420 km. From test drive at dealers, this actually seems achievable around town. 110 km/hr range is probably closer to 340 km. But this is all pretty early info.

According to this site there was a software update that enabled the greater range.

https://thedriven.io/2022/07/19/heated-seats-and-range-boost-confirmed-for-byd-atto-3/

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

SomePostman

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Master Geek

#2949475 1-Aug-2022 19:13

Where are you reading that on that article? It mentions the theoretical increase to the standard range:

"The theoretical 320km WLTP range has been upped to 345kms."

lchiu7

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#2949520 1-Aug-2022 21:51

SomePostman: Where are you reading that on that article? It mentions the theoretical increase to the standard range:

"The theoretical 320km WLTP range has been upped to 345kms."

The dealer said an equivalent increase has been applied to the LR model. Take that for what it's worth. There are no LR models in thhe first shipment to NZ as BYD NZ decided the LR version would be the one that most people would get.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

mattwnz

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#2949530 1-Aug-2022 23:21

SomePostman:
Obraik:

I think the likes of BYD could very well be a big threat for Japanese companies like Toyota and Mazda. Both of those legacy companies are dragging their feet with switching to EVs, meanwhile you have these Chinese EV companies like BYD bringing out what look like decent vehicles at a very appealing price point.

At least Toyota have a very solid hybrid lineup and there's a lot of people not ready with jumping full EV and think hybrid is the best of both worlds. But I really do like Mazda (post their boring/plain phase they left during the late 90s, early 2000s) but they really do seem left behind. The MX-30 was really disappointing. I'm not sure Honda are any better positioned? There's going to be a lot of deaths and births in the car industry in the next 10 years I'd guess

Toyota also have good reliability. Basically you buy Toyota for reliability and you expect to pay more as a result. With many of these EVs, spare parts and ease of repair is IMO going to be the issue. As will built in obsolesce . How many of these LCD dash displays are going to be available to replace in 8-10 years. LCD displays fail, unlike a regulars speedo which tend to be very reliable.

The MX-30 was mainly disappointing due to the poor range compared to the price. If it was half the price, it would have been more acceptable. Toyotas BZ4R or whatever they call it, is far better, but still not really that competitive or compelling. But I am sure they will produce better EVs, probably first under Lexus.

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