8 ms·
I was in Mexico City two weeks ago and a few uber drivers were driving BYD Dolphins. I was impressed. At a $14k price point, I can’t imagine better value for m
by bdunks 2y ago
I was in Mexico City two weeks ago and a few uber drivers were driving BYD Dolphins.
I was impressed. At a $14k price point, I can’t imagine better value for money. I got sucked into research and there are no near term plans for expanding to the US market.
It’s too bad. They’re expecting to sell 500,000 units in Mexico this year. With the current (lower) emissions standards, I’m optimistic such affordable EVs will make a big difference to air quality in the coming years.
- testfrequency 2y agoI was just about to comment that a friend of mine owns a BYD and I got to drive his while in Mexico. Can’t remember the model, but it’s a crossover style. I was ready to hate on it, but for the price and quality inside at least, wild. It also drove like any other car in the low/mid range that I’ve owned, wheel felt confident and had some heft to it (my preference).
- haunter 2y ago>At a $14k price point In China maybe where it's 100k RMB (~roughly $14k). Everywhere else it's the double or at least $25k. It's £26k ($32k) in the UK. It's €32k ($33k) in Germany Even in Mexico it's $26k (535k pesos) not $14k https://www.autocosmos.com.mx/catalogo/vigente/byd/dolphin https://www.autocosmos.com.mx/catalogo/vigente/byd/dolphin
- pfd1986 2y agoJust did a quick check and it translates to $30K in Brazil as well
- wdb 2y agoAnd in Singapore it’s US$120k. Not much more than Tesla or Mercedes etc
- throwaway2037 2y agoI assume this is the "all-in" price, that includes Singapore's famously highly car registration tax? I found these levels here: https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/buying/upfront-vehicle-costs/tax-structure.html https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/buyi...
- hhandoko 2y agoNope... US$120k is most likely the base price (car + taxes). The Certificate of Enrolment (CoE) is market rate, and right now it's an additional SG$85k to SG$111k depending on the vehicle category (on top of the base price). https://www.motorist.sg/coe-results https://www.motorist.sg/coe-results https://bydcars.sg/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BYD-Pricelist-8-Jan-–-12-Jan-2025-.pdf https://bydcars.sg/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BYD-Pricelist-...
- goatsi 2y agoI read that flyer as the price of the car plus COE. The "Excite Package" Dolphin lists "Guaranteed COE" for $165,888 Singapore dollars ($122,505 USD) all in. >In Singapore, most people typically purchase new vehicles through dealers. Dealers will collect orders from customers and participate in the COE bidding on behalf of their customers. >Supply and demand set the price for COE, which regulates demand. When COE prices are high, vehicle prices, as quoted by dealers, will have to increase, reducing demand. When COE prices are lower, dealers can afford to reduce prices if they want to, which will increase demand. https://dollarsandsense.sg/guide-understanding-coe-bidding-system-works-singapore/ https://dollarsandsense.sg/guide-understanding-coe-bidding-s... It looks like dealers handle getting the COE (which makes sense, since you couldn't drive the vehicle off the lot without one). Subtract the $85,000 (SD) CAT A COE cost from the car price and it comes out to $80,000 (SD), or ~$60,000 USD.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- bdunks 2y agoThank you for the correction and clarification. I didn’t dig into country specific pricing before posting. While still higher, I believe these are all very reasonable prices — perhaps just not as mind blowing. I’m optimistic for the future.
- michpoch 2y ago> I believe these are all very reasonable prices Sure, as reasonable as offers from Western manufacturers. You can get plenty of EVs for 30k USD.
- phs318u 2y agoNot in Australia you don't. Outside of Chinese EVs, you won't find an EV here for under AUD$55K (last time I looked, which was about 6 months ago).
- Gud 2y agoAre they comparable to BYD Dolphin?
- tonyedgecombe 2y agoRight now they have stronger service networks and better parts availability.
- michpoch 2y agoThe western ones are much better, e.g. VW ID3.
- hulitu 2y ago> You can get plenty of EVs for 30k USD. Yes. Dacia Sprint. Plenty of it.
- michpoch 2y agoDacia costs ~14k USD here (Switzerland).
- timv 2y agoIn Australia the entry level "Dolphin essential" is A$30k which is between US$18.5k and US$21k, depending on the (fairly volatile) exchange rates. Still not US$14k, but not quite the $25k it is in other markets.
- senti_sentient 2y agoHe probably meant Seagull, which is also sold as Dolphin Mini in some countries.
- SapporoChris 2y ago"The Seagull went on sale in Mexico as the Dolphin Mini in March 2024. It is available in two variants, dubbed the Dolphin Mini and Dolphin Mini Plus, which are equipped with a 30.88 kWh and 38.88 kWh battery respectively." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Seagull https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Seagull https://mexico.as.com/motor/byd-dolphin-mini-que-tiene-de-especial-este-auto-electrico-n/ https://mexico.as.com/motor/byd-dolphin-mini-que-tiene-de-es...
- boredatoms 2y agoIs it possible to import them from Mexio to US as a used-car?
- beau_g 2y agoNope, there's a 25 year import rule on cars that aren't homologated for US market https://carbuzz.com/features/25-year-import-rule-everything-you-need-to-know/ https://carbuzz.com/features/25-year-import-rule-everything-...
- gchamonlive 2y agoYeah... I'm sure it's just to protect the market from lack of parts, protect the user's privacy and prevent cars from randomly exploding in the streets. Makes total sense.
- rurban 2y agoMakes no sense at all. BYD is THE dominant EV car manufacturer worldwide. https://www.statista.com/statistics/541390/global-sales-of-plug-in-electric-vehicle-manufacturers/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/541390/global-sales-of-p... Protectionism only
- gchamonlive 2y agoThat was a sarcastic comment. I think the sarcasm was not clear enough. Sorry about that.
- bagels 2y agoIt's infinity years in California.
- cpursley 2y agoOnly after 25 years.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- adrr 2y agoUS doesn't have a large demand for EVs so I doubt we'll see BYD in the US. They are building a factory in Mexico that is capable of 300,000 vehicles per year.
- slashdev 2y agoNot sure where you get that info from. Demand is also relative to price and US EVs are very expensive.
- adrr 2y ago"“We’re not planning to come to the US,” Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD and CEO of BYD Americas, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “It’s an interesting market, but it is very complicated,” she added, citing growing political pushback on Chinese companies and the slowing rate of growth for EV adoption." From the largest maker of BEVs.
- macintux 2y agoThat doesn't say that demand is low, but that adoption is slowing, which could reflect many factors, including high prices.
- adrr 2y agoAre they high? Average price paid in 2024 for a new car was $50k. There are tons of EVs under that price from Tesla model 3/y, For Mach E,Hyundai Ionic, a bunch of KIA models, VW ID4 etc.
- drawkward 2y agoGood job! You continue to fail to subtantiate your original claim (low US EV demand) very well! A+ goalpost moving!
- slashdev 2y agoThe auto industry in general appears to be slowing world wide
- rainsford 2y agoI'll admit I don't quite understand how EV demand works in lower income countries like Mexico. One of the major limits I see in the US is that the main appeal of having an EV is reasonably good (i.e. level 2) charging at home, which isn't an available option for many people in the US who don't have private garages with good electrical service. I feel like this limitation would be even more widespread in a country like Mexico, but maybe that's either incorrect or the appeal of EVs outside of the US doesn't rely quite so much on charging at home.
- heyjamesknight 2y agoUnless your commute is long, charging overnight on a standard outlet is more than sufficient. We have two EVs—one for my daily ~50 mile round trip commute while the other stays in the neighborhood most the time—and we never have to charge outside the home.
- torginus 2y agoSolar is super cheap nowadays - you can have a complete 5kW solar install with an 5kWh battery for around $2000 + labor. I'd argue a similar proportion of people have their own houses. Additionally, a level 2 charger is just a high amperage wall socket plus some safety equipment.
- hervature 2y agoThis is incredibly misleading. The average price per solar install is $3/W so your 5kWh is probably much closer to $15k. Additionally, "+ labor" is actually 66% of the price of solar in the USA (soft costs + balance of system). Could you do the labor yourself? Of course. Do you have the time and tools? Probably not. Is saying "$2000 + labor" false? Technically, no, functionally, yes. All numbers taken from [1]. These do not include batteries in the install. [1] - https://www.solar.com/learn/solar-panel-cost/ https://www.solar.com/learn/solar-panel-cost/
- dalyons 2y agowe're talking about mexico, not the weirdly over-inflated home solar price of the US. For eg australia is around ~ $1/w installed, and they have high labor costs. It doesnt have to be expensive, the US makes it so somehow.
- vitaflo 2y agoThey’re not coming to the US market because there’s a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs. Biden signed that last year.
- lesuorac 2y agoIsn't 14k with a 100% tariff still way cheaper than a Tesla?
- zdragnar 2y agoNobody actually pays $14k but the Chinese themselves. It's usually in the equivalent of $25k to $30's. Throw in the tariffs and what not, and you lose out to other low end EV models.
- m463 2y agoI thought lots of inexpensive cars have never made it into the US market because they didn't meet safety standards.
- rsynnott 2y agoThere’s a demand aspect; you generally have to produce a version per market. ~No EU-spec cars would be saleable in the US, as they wouldn’t meet safety standards (for instance, very different rules on lights) and vice versa. These standards can often seem trivial, but having two versions of a car is expensive. So “doesn’t meet safety standards” usually means “it is not worth anyone’s time to produce a local version, either for demand or tariff barrier reasons”.
- TiredOfLife 2y agoI thought that tariffs are bad and only punish americans, and anybody imposing them is an evil dictator or something like that.